Memories of Father Healy of Little Bray

This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized
by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the
information in books and make it universally accessible.

Google" books

http://books.google.com

4

/■

Memories of Father Healy
of Little Bray

William John Fitzpatrick

JJarbarli College ILtbraru

FROM TIIE REQUEST OK

JAMES WALKER, D.D., LL.D

FORMER PRESIDENT OF HARVARD COLLEGE

Preference being given to works in the
Intellectual and Moral Sciences.”

wmmm

Digitized by LjOOQle

MEMORIES OF FATHER HEALY

Digitized by LjOOQle

Digitized by

Digitized by

Digitized by Google

Digitized by LjOOQle

0

MEMORIES

OF

FATHER HEALY

OF LITTLE BRAY

WITH A PORTRAIT

LONDON

RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON
Itabltshtra in 0rbinarB to Jfcr jfUajeotg
1896

[All rights reserved]

Digitized by CjOOQle

$*S/d//S.£.

Digitized by

Google

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Birth and Boyhood — Francis Street in the Past — TeDeum
for George III. — Dr. Kenrick — Cardinal MacCabe —

‘ Liberty Birds ’ — The White Quakers — Dr. Flanagan
and his Art Galleries — Rev. Patrick Murray, D.D.—
Father Smith and his Practical Jokes — Anecdotes —

The Lazarites — Castleknock — Donnybrook Fair 1*22

CHAPTER II.

‘ The Repeal Year * — Maynooth College entered — Peel
endows it with X*80,000 a Year — Dr. O’Hanlon — Dr.
Murray — Destructive and Constructive Theologians
— Anecdotes — Rev. Nicholas Callan — The Dunboyne
House — The Round-robin - - - 28-82

CHAPTER III.

Ordination and First Appointment — Dean Meyler’s
Dinners — Archbishop Murray — Tom Moore — P. V.
Fitz- Patrick — Smock Alley Presbytery Fifty Years
Ago — Rev. Andrew O’Connell — Father Meehan and
the Fiery Chariot of Elias — An Iron-clamped Coffin —
Canon Roche — Zozimus — McCarthy, the Poet — Saul’s
Court — Father Healy, Curate of Bray — Tinnahinch 88-49

Digitized by LjOOQle

VI

CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV.

PAGE

Archbishop Cullen — Rev. Alexander Roache — Forty-
three Chapels burnt in the Troubles — Kilmacanogue —

Rev. Dr. Miley — Father Trevor’s Blunder — Anecdote
— Father Lavelle — Dean Lee, P.P., Bray — Anecdote —

The Brothers Fry — Loretto — Father Healy as a
Confessor ..... 50*66

CHAPTER V.

Administrator of St. Peter’s, Little Bray — Alzog on
Father Healy’s Chapel — Visit of Cardinal Cullen —

‘ Enter ; its Grandeur overwhelms you not ’ — Anecdote

— The Duke of Connaught — General Sir George

Cockbum — Anecdotes — Sir W. Wilde — An Episcopal
Vacancy — Mrs. O’Reilly Dease — ‘ Tristram Shandy ’ —
Lord Fingall — Dame Dease’s Recollections — The
Gallows at Trim— Matthew O’Reilly Dease — Father
Healy gets him elected M.P. for Louth — Rev. Samuel
Cotton and his Umbrella - - - 67-87

CHAPTER VI.

Anecdotes — * The Heart that has truly loved never
forgets * — ‘ The Devil’s Glen ’ — Lord Mayor Durdin —

4 A Jackass in a Basket of Greens ’ — The Dargle — Mr.
Justice Crampton— A Dinner at St. Valerie — Canon
Forde, V.G.— Death of Father Healy’s Sister, a Nun

— A Dame in Bearded Majesty — Parish Priest of

Little Bray — A Death at the Altar — A Bishop in
Partibus — Anecdotes — Father Healy’s Theological
Knowledge — Amusing Incident at Trinity College 88-110

CHAPTER VII.

Mr. Justice Keogh — Lecture on Milton — A Great Row —
Jessie Keogh — Her Betrothal and Premature Death —

The Galway Judgment — Sensation produced — A
Meeting of Protest by the Parish Priests, headed by

Digitized by LjOOQle

CONTENTS

PAOB

Cardinal Cullen — Father Healy absent — A Movement
to buy for him the House in which he lived — Judge
Keogh finds a Picture of a Coffin under his Dinner-
plate — His Death .... 111-189

CHAPTER VIII.

A Narrow Escape — Anecdotes — The Plymouth Brethren
— Lord Chancellor Brewster — Sir Robert Stewart —
Handel’s Organ — Isaac Butt — Monckton M fines —
Dublin Castle — Anecdotes — Lord Ashbourne — Sir
Red vers Buller — Sir H. Campbell Bannerman —

4 Sparks ’ ..... 140-166

CHAPTER IX.

An Irish Election — An Action at Law and Father Healy’ s
Evidence —Major O’Reilly, of Knock Abbey — A Rough
Reply — The Breakfast at the Royal St. George’s Yacht
Club— Sensational Incident — Exit O’Reilly Dease — His
Strange Will 167-168

CHAPTER X.

Rev. Charles Meehan — Traits of his Acute Cynicism —
How Father Healy sought to correct and cure him —
Bishop Moran — The 4 Penny Warbler ’ preferred to
Calderon— Lisdoon varna — Clarence Mangan — Trip to
Paris — Father Kenyon — John O’Toole — A Death-
bed ..... 164-186

CHAPTER XI.

Dean Neville— His Interesting Career — The Land League
— Retort to Dean Quirk — Father Tom Burke— How
Canon Pope’s Monologue was silenced — Father Ring
— Stories — The Tipsy Jarvey — Canon Harold — Anec-
dotes — An Enfant de Marie — Recollections of Father
Healy by his Late Curate - - - 186-209

Digitized by LjOOQle

CONTENTS

viii

CHAPTER XII.

PAGE

Social Intercourse Poisoned — * The Evangelist of Peace ’

— Lord Randolph Churchill — Field - Marshal Lord
Wolseley on the Genial Padre —The Dinners at Little
Bray — W. Lysaght Griffin — Lefanu — Dr. Mahaffy —

The Venus of Milo .... 210-221

CHAPTER XIII.

Lord Fitz william — Breakfast with Gladstone — ‘Indul-
gences ’ — Visit to Rome — A Bad Time in the Mediter-
ranean — Alexandria — Cairo and the Pyramids — The
Dragoman — Heliopolis, the Cradle of Healy’s Race —

The Nile — A Pleasant Acquaintance formed — Luxor —

A Treat in a Tram .... 222-230

CHAPTER XIV.

The Egyptian Traveller entertained — A Budget of Stories
— More Bon-mot8 — Canon Farrell — Bennett Little —
Knock — Visit of the Editor of Punch — A Great
Shock 231-246

CHAPTER XV.

From Grave to Gay — A Startling Telegram — Father
Healy and the English Doctor — Edward Guinness,
Lord Iveagh — The Prince of Wales in Ireland — The
Orang-outang — Rev. Samuel Haughton, S.F.T.C.D. —

The Addition of Cabinteely to Little Bray — Trip to
America — Granby the Comedian and 4 A Kiss in the
Dark ’ — Cardinal MacCabe and the Canonry — A Hoax
— Father O’Dwyer — Lord Londonderry - 247-266

CHAPTER XVI.

Sir John Banks, K.C.B. — Bright Days in London — Bute
House — Historic Memories — Lunch with Punch —
Lady Salisbury — A Toss-up for the Mitre — ‘Think
not my Spirits are always as Light ’ - - 267-280

Digitized by LjOOQle

CONTENTS

IX

CHAPTER XVII.

PAOB

On DogB and Cats — Archbishop Lord Plunket — Mr.
Balfour — The Coercion Act — Lady Leslie — Anecdotes
— Monsignore Persico’s Mission to Ireland — The Prince
of Saxe- Weimar — Harrogate — Carlsbad — The Duchess
of Montrose, alms Mr. Manton — Mr. Parnell — ‘The
Lot fell on Matthias ’ - - 281-801

CHAPTER XVIII.

Tour in Spain — Paul Aubert — Alarming Illness of Father
Healy — The Riviera — In the Pope’s Debt — Monte
Carlo — A Papal Present — Letters from Hell — Loretto
versus Roulette — Lady Hilda Dundas — Lord Houghton
— Narrow Escape of Father Healy — The 4 Twopenny
Shave ’ — Castle Boro — Carlsbad — Buxton - 802-817

CHAPTER XIX.

The Expected Canonry — Promotion to the Parish of
Ballybrack and Killiney — Shanganagh — Lord Powers-
court’s Memorandum — Rostrevor, the Irish Mentone
— Cardinal Logue — Cahermce Horse -fair 818-841

Appendix ------ 842-847

Digitized by LjOOQle

Digitized by

MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

CHAPTER I.

Birth and Boyhood— Francis Street in the past— Te Deum
for George III. — Dr. Kenrick — Cardinal MacCabe —
‘ Liberty Birds * — The White Quakers — Dr. Flanagan and
his Art Galleries— Rev. Patrick Murray, D.D. — Father
Smith and his Practical Jokes — Anecdotes— The Lazarites
— Castleknock — Donnybrook Fair.

‘ I was born on December the 15th, 1824/ said
Father James Healy, ‘being one of twenty-three
children.’ Several of bis brothers and sisters died
young, and were buried at Blue Bell, a rural grave-
yard near Dublin, once the happy hunting-ground
of those who, for anatomical purposes, effected pre-
mature resurrections. His mother, Mary Meyler,
•came of a respectable family in Wexford. His
father was a humourist, and is described as wearing,
under almost every phase of circumstance, a broad
smile. Traces of this unfailing geniality are found
in the features of the son.

1

Digitized by LjOOQle

2 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Dr. Mahaffy, F.T.C.D., writes of Father James
Healy : ‘ His outward presence expressed perfectly
the soul within. It would have been a common
face but for the uncommon qualities which marked
it, for it was broadened with smiles, lit up with
a twinkling eye, refined by the thin nostril and
mobile lips, which told of his delicate perception
and his ready utterance — an utterance rich with
the flavour of his origin. He was never at a loss
for a kindly word ; to meet him in the street was
like passing suddenly into sunshine.’

Old John Healy shone too, but merely as a
rough diamond. He had close business relations
with Patrick Kehoe, of Francis Street, in whose
family are traditionally preserved ana of his
humour ; but these turn merely on local and
personal traits. No one would have laughed more
than John Healy if informed that he was descended
from the ancient race of O’Hely, who are described
by the Four Masters as ‘ princely brughaidhs ’ in
1309*; nevertheless, there is some truth in the

* Archdeacon O’Rorke, in his ‘ History of Sligo,’ vol. ii.,
p. 307, says that the ancestral home of the O’Helys was
Ballinafad ; but it would appear that their adventurous sons
soon spread north and south, and, in the words of the old
song,

4 From Ballinafad to Tanderagee,

Now, if you’re for sport, come along with me !’

There are, alas! tragic incidents in their tree. Bishop
O’Hely was hanged on August 22, 1578, according ta

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE O'HELYS

3

statement. Vicissitude came ; and the old race
received its finishing touch in the operation of the
Penal Code, which, as Swift states, drove many a
sept into the ranks of the coal-porters. Father
Healy was once comparing notes with the Rev.
Dr. O’Fay, P.P., Craughwell, on their respective
travels in France, when the latter said, 4 Of course
you were an fait at the lingo ?’ 4 Oh/ he replied, 4 I
was only O’Hely at it.’ * About the same time a
lady volunteered to him the information that she
was of the * Dalys of Castle Daly/ and asked what
family did he belong to. His answer, which greatly
amused the company, was, 4 1 belong to the
Francis Street branch of the Halys, of Castle
Haly.’ When afterwards recounting this reply to
an English friend, he substituted tor Castle 4 Healy ’
‘Castle Street’ — a thoroughfare in Little Bray.
4 One Who Knew Him/ with possibly a confused im-
pression of the foregoing answer, writes in the West-
minster Gazette that he replied to an inquiring lady :
4 I’m one of the Healys of Healy’s Court.’ It does
not appear that she followed up her query with

O’Renehan. At the trial O’Hely summoned his judge, Sir
William Drury, to appear before the judgment-seat of God.
Drury certainly died in October of that year.

* Dr. O’Fay died on July 0, 1867. The Catholic Directory
of that day says : 4 He was a Doctor in Divinity, received the
Boman pension, an honour seldom conferred but on Italians,
was made a Knight of the Golden Spur, and Count of the
Holy Roman Empire.’

Digitized by

Google

4 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

‘ What number ?’ which was said to a pretentious
boaster who described his seat in the country as
4 The Court.’ The writer just quoted goes on to say
that 4 Father Healy, when further pressed as to the
whereabouts of the natal spot, mentioned a lane in
the slums of the city, proverbial for poverty and
dirt.’* This must be taken cum gratia, as will be
shown.

The name of Father Healy s father does not
appear in the Dublin Directory for 1824 — the year
James was born — but later on he is described as
4 John Healy, Provision Merchant, 116, Francis
Street.’ The title ‘Merchant’ usually denotes a
status superior to the ordinary shopkeeper. That
Father Healy was born in Francis Street, we know
on his own authority. The Duchess of Marlborough
once asked him if he spoke French. ‘I ought,
your grace, for I was born in Francis Street,’ was
his reply. And perhaps there was more in it
than superficially appeared, for in the last century
a French jjatois was often heard near his natal
spot, traceable to the Huguenot silk-weavers who
had settled there. Francis Street — so called from
a Franciscan abbey which has disappeared — is

* I have dwelt on this point because I once heard a monk
of great asceticism say — one who also possesses a keen sense
of humour— that in Father Healy ’s constant avowal of his
origin, at the tables of the great, he showed a spirit of honest
humility that did him more honour than even his wit.

Digitized by AjOOQle

‘ TE DEUM ’ FOR GEORGE III.

5

described in old records as a rural suburb; but
it was finally embraced by squalid surroundings.

John Healy held his lease from Swift’s Hospital.
It will be remembered that Dean Swift endowed a
mad-house —

‘ To show by one satiric touch
No nation needed it so much/

A block of houses belonging to Swift extended from
Garden Lane to Marks Alley. John Healy’s house,
which was one of them, is now absorbed into the
larger premises of Patrick Kehoe, a well-known
firm of bacon-curers.

Francis Street was no obscure parish when James
Healy was born. It grasped Rathmines, Ranelagh,
Miltown and Harold’s Cross. In Frances Street
lived at first John Keogh, the leader of the Catholics
before O’Connell ; and in its chapel meetings had
been held in furtherance of emancipation when
Curran and Grattan spoke, and students of Trinity
College cheered them to the echo. Until 1796 it
was the mensal or archiepiscopal parish of the
Diocese of Dublin. A flaming account is found in
the Universal Magazine for 1789 of a grand thanks-
giving service here for the recovery of George III.
Archbishop Troy and his suffragans officiated, while
a splendid choir, in which many Protestants joined,
sang the Te Deum. The traditions which James
Healy imbibed fed and fostered his policy as a man.

Among incidents within his memory were the

Digitized by

Google

6 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

periodic fights of which Francis Street was the
arena. When one was about to come off, the
inhabitants all put up their shutters, and the street
seemed in a state of siege. He well remembered a
man of proportions like Goliath with whom a
smaller person declared that he would have it out.
* Take care !’ exclaimed the latter ; ‘ I’m an awkward
sort of fellow. Maybe it’s in the eye I’d hit you,’
suiting the action to the word, and with a strength
of effect that BelVs Life could alone find suitable
slang to describe ! A form of challenge that Healy
chanced to hear greatly amused him : ‘ I never saw
the broth that was too hot for me — or the mait that
was too fat for me.’

There can be no doubt that Father Healy’s song,
‘ The Nowlans an’ Neals,’ which in after-years he
often sang for a chosen few, derived its inspiration
from those days. It described, very much in the
style and spirit of the more recent ‘ Killaloe,’ a faction
fight between two stocks. This continued to such
a late hour that candles had to be lit in order ‘ to
pick out the Nowlans from Neals.’ Such strange
scenes were clearly traceable to encounters of a
graver sort, which not many years before disgraced
Dublin, and owed their origin to a feud between
the Huguenot weavers and the butchers, whose
* guild ’ was that ‘ of the B. V. Mary.’ On
November 4, 1821, the Rev. Michael Blake *
* Afterwards Bishop of Dromore. Dr. Blake died in 1861.

Digitized by LjOOQle

BATTLES WITH BLUDGEONS

7

preached a sermon on the necessity of an early
religious education, and took occasion to refer to
his sainted predecessor, Dr. Beatagh, in words
highly useful to the local historian. ‘When he
commenced his luminous career, many amongst
you may remember the abject and shameful state
of public morals. Ireland had then, as she has
now, all the capabilities of greatness; but being
neglected, the richer she was in natural qualities,
the more vicious and profligate she became. Her
children were frequently seen on each side of the
quays of your city, drawn up in battle array, armed
against each other with bludgeons, rusty swords,
and missile weapons ; and on almost every public
occasion the exuberance of her nature wantoned in
excesses of the most lawless and barbarous kind.
Education has, under God, nearly remedied all
these evils. Those factions, which formerly were
wont to fill the community with alarm, have dis-
appeared.*

Mrs. Healy died in middle age, and her sorrow-
ing husband — if, indeed, a man whose features had
acquired a pose of chronic enjoyment can have
grieved long — paid the compliment to the happi-
ness of first marriage by promptly entering on a
second.

Among Healy’s more respectable neighbours in
Francis Street — all familiar figures to him — were
John Sweetman, a member of the Rebel Directory

Digitized by LjOOQle

8 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES NEALY

in ’98; Joseph DenisMullen,*the popular orator, and
eventually Governor of the Four Courts, Marshal-
sea ; the Rev. Dr. Kenrick, P.P. ; Gervais Taylor,
well known at home and abroad ; Edward Mac-
Cabe, afterwards Cardinal ; and the Rev. Dr. Daw-
son, Dean of St. Patrick’s, nephew of the author of
‘Bumper Squire Jones.’ But there were other
* Liberty birds,’ all characters in their way,
‘ Zozimus,’ ‘ Stoney Pockets,’ ‘ Billy in the Bowl,’
Kearney, the singer, ‘ Owny ’ and ‘ Hughy,’ not to
speak of Joshua Jacob and Abigail Bayle, both
white Quakers, but who afterwards became
Catholics, and are buried at Glasnevin. Of all
these people Father Healy had something to say.
The saintly Dr. Kenrick was uncle of the present
Archbishop of St. Louis. One day he missed his
hat, and having astutely peeped into Plunkett
Street — a famous mart for old clothes — he found
a woman in the act of selling it. ‘ I only wanted
it as a relic of your reverence,’ she said. ‘You
seem very anxious to get rid of it, then.’ ‘ I was

* Few would expect to find in a London publication of
1814 allusion made to a denizen of Francis Street. ‘ Anacreon
in Dublin * (Stockdale, Pall Mall) sings

4 Haste thee now, ingenious Mullen ;

Though the Liberty is dull in
Manufacture, trade or pay,

Thou must form a cup to-day.’

The writer was Edmond Lenthal Swift, Keeper of the Regalia
at the Tower. Letters to Mullen will be found in the
O’Connell and Wellesley correspondence.

Digitized by CjOOQle

REV. MATHEW FLANAGAN

9

merely asking the value of it/ rejoined the ready-
witted crone.

Dr. Kenrick died soon after the recovery of his
stolen hat, and a medal in commemoration of his
worth was struck — one familiar to collectors of such
things. A bust of him from the chisel of his friend
and successor, Rev. Mathew Flanagan, is preserved
at the presbytery, Francis Street. Flanagan, after-
wards Chancellor of the Diocese, was a pompous,
austere man, tall, and of imposing presence. He
showed skill in moulding objects in clay and after-
wards transferring the result to marble, and several
of his works are still to be seen about the Church
of St. Nicholas. At a time when John Hogan was
comparatively unknown, Flanagan secured his
study in clay of a dead Christ, which he placed
over the high altar. Having heard that some of
the curates had gone up on a ladder to examine
the work, he said to them in his nasal twang, ‘ If
you injured one finger of it, it is more than your
miserable lives could ever atone for.’

Visitors came to see his art galleries. A small
statue of Achilles wounded in the heel was made
the subject of special contemporary notice. Canon
Pope became his curate for a time, and imbibed the
same tastes. One day Dr. Flanagan found a poor,
ill-clad boy who, in an adjoining slum, gave such
promise as a draughtsman that he took him up,
and gave him pictures to paint ; and this youth.

Digitized by

Google

IO MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

N. J. Crowley, became an Academician in the end.
Dr. Flanagan’s works, though striking, all things
considered, bore traces of the amateur. Father
Healy used to describe the visit of a doctor (who had
the reputation of being 4 a quiz ’) to Flanagan’s art
gallery. Pointing to a bust, * By Canova, sir ?’
4 No — I,’ and — feigning to be much struck by a
picture — * Michael Angelo ?’ 4 No — I.’

In 1884 James Healy is found a day-scholar,
with Thomas Nedley, Edward Fottrell, J. C. Kelly,
and others, at the Vincentian Seminary, 84,
Usher’s Quay, Dublin. The Directory of the day
describes it, from the above date until 1840, as
simply 4 Day-school under the patronage of Most
Rev. Dr. Murray, conducted by a number of clergy-
men.’ These good fathers were technically known
as 4 Lazarites,’ and will be found . fully noticed
when Healy becomes an alumnus of Castleknock.
At the Usher’s Quay school James was shorter
than his schoolfellows, and as one of them, Mr.
Kelly, remembers, he always contrived when the
class remained in line that his feet should rest on
a projecting part of the surbase. Though a smart
boy, he was no infant prodigy, but he is described
as quick in spirit, and one who could box to some
purpose if aggressively approached.

After a few years the good Vincentians — the
name by which its clerical managers are best
known — gave up this school, when for a short time

Digitized by AjOOQle

PRACTICAL JOKES

1 1

it continued to be carried on by their late usher,
Mr. Michael Hickey, A.B. This usher had been
popular with the boys, and one of the ‘ archest ’ of
them told a new-comer that the quay derived its
name in compliment to the pedagogue.

The priests of Francis Street, including the Rev.
Patrick Murray, subsequently highly distinguished
as Professor of Theology at Maynooth, were con-
stant guests at John Healy’s table. ‘ Little James ’
was the incarnation of fun, and the source of infinite
enjoyment to the curates. Amongst the latter was
Father Smith, of whose love of a practical joke
Canon Pope gave me many laughable anecdotes.
James, besides being a regular attendant at Cate-
chism, was constantly in and out of the presbytery
and vestry, and it was hard to control the explo-
sions of laughter which, except at times of solemn
duty, his quaint sallies provoked. ‘ We must kill
Healy, or, if we don’t, Healy will kill us,’ Father
Smith was one day overheard to say.* Old Healy,
addressing Gusty Grehan, asked, ‘ Do you know my

* Father Smith was an old man who, unpromoted, tottered
into the tomb. The * aorta,* doctors say, is easily ruptured
at advanced life by much emotion. There is no knowing
what risks he may have run. Zeuxis, the artist, was so
amused at the sight of a hag he had painted that he died in a
fit of laughter. The aged philosopher, Chrysippus, died from
a ‘ side-splitter,’ and Tertullian relates that Licinius Crassus
laughed himself to death from witnessing an ass trying to
swallow some thistles.

Digitized by CjOOQle

12 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

son James ?’ proudly adding, * that’s himself !’ A.
story has it that the youngster once puzzled his
father by describing the efforts of a fat pig to
escape through a narrow door as ‘ Bacon’s Essays,’
but I cannot quite satisfy myself as to its authen-
ticity. Anything about bacon had always piquancy
for both.

John Healy was a plain, straightforward trader,
who scorned all affectation in describing his craft.
Father Meehan, in his ‘History of the O'Tooles,*
remarks that ‘ in Rome the man who sells bacon
calls himself by a modest name,’ but ‘in Dublin
the person who advertises gambs, jowls, pigs’ faces
and middles, styles himself an Italian warehouse-
man ! 0 shades of Raphael and Angelo!’ adds

Meehan in words eminently characteristic. The
connection that subsisted to the end between
Charles Meehan and James Healy is not the least
interesting of the episodes in this modest his-
tory.*

Father Smith continued to be a favourite figure
in Healy’s retrospects, and his example, in some re-
spects, was not lost upon him. Smith was one of the
most hospitable of men, and regularly every Tues-
day gave a feast, at which the professors of May-
nooth, Drs. Murray, Molloy and others, were

* The guide to an Italian priest who had wished to see
Dublin was dryly told that he should have taken the stranger
round to show him all the Italian warehouses.

Digitized by CjOOQle

THE LAZARITES

l 3

bidden. Years rolled on, and the old curate,
almost doubled in two, was a familiar and touching
object. At last Dr., afterwards Cardinal, MacCabe,
who, as a boy, had often served his Mass, dispensed
Smith from duty. It may be added that he had
property in his own right, and, furthermore, had
been left £1,000 by Miss Sherlock, a near relation
of the well-known Serjeant-at-Law. Some of her
kinsfolk reported this bequest to Rome, and Smith’s
exclusion from promotion is said to have been due
to that circumstance.

In 1839 James Healy became a pupil, and subse-
quently a novice, in St. Vincent’s College, Castle-
knock, and it may be interesting to recall the
circumstances in which ‘ the Congregation of the
Missions ’ originated.

Early in the seventeenth century the Abb^ Vincent,
a tutor in the family of the Comtesse de Joigney,
was hurriedly summoned to the deathbed of a man
who, though he had often approached the Sacra-
ments, now admitted, on inquiry, that several un-
confessed crimes burthened his breast. Vincent
was so successful with this sinner that the Countess
urged him to preach near Amiens on the crime of
making bad confessions. Vast numbers responded
to his voice ; his confessional was crowded, and the
Countess conceived the good thought of founding
an institute for conducting missions in rural dis-
tricts. For this purpose the Archbishop of Paris

Digitized by CjOOQle

14 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

offered the College des Bons Enfants, which the
Countess duly endowed, and pious secular priests
came to help Vincent de Paul. Urban VIII. by
Bull in 1682 gave the congregation a threefold
object — the sanctification of its own sons, the
special work at first proposed, and the training of a
very ascetic priesthood. In 1682 the Fathers
moved to the College of St. Lazare. Harvests of
conversions year by year rewarded their labours,
and in 1787 Vincent was canonized. There were
now eighty-four houses of the institute, and among
so many it is hardly surprising that some of the
Fathers should have favoured Jansenism and
refused to accept the Bull * Unigenitus ’ ; but
M. Bonnet, their prudent general, drew them from
the gulf on which they stood. During the Beign of
Terror St. Lazare was twice plundered, some of
the Fathers were butchered, and the remainder
driven from France. The Lazarites rose again
like Lazarus from his tomb, but the Maison St.
Lazare, from which women had been strictly
excluded, became, as it remains to this day, a
prison for women.

In 1885 the Rev. William Gwynne, D.D., who
had long conducted a most respectable Protestant
school at Castleknock, sold his establishment to
the Vincentian Fathers. The now well-known
college soon flourished on its site. The purchase in-
cluded forty acres of land and a ruined castle of

Digitized by LjOOQle

CASTLEKNOCK

15

much interest and antiquity, to which reference
shall again be made.

Men of the present generation regard Castle-
knock as essentially a lay school ; but it does not
seem to have been so at first. The following
announcement caught the eye one day of old John
Healy, and decided him as to what he would do :

ST. VINCENT’S ECCLESIASTICAL COLLEGE,
CASTLEKNOCK.

Principal — Reverend P. Dowley.

This establishment was undertaken by the direction of the
Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, and in conformity with the
expressed wishes of several of the clergy of the Diocese
of Dublin. The study and exercises are directed to facilitate
the entrance of students into ecclesiastical colleges, and to
obviate the evils resulting from their presenting themselves
as candidates for the sacred ministry without being acquainted
with the nature of that holy state or the dispositions required
for embracing it.

With all the higher branches of languages, Greek and
Roman classics, modern and ancient history, geography,
mathematics, etc., the study of the English language, the
principles of composition, and the practice of public delivery,
are particularly attended to.

Father and son were soon en route to Castleknock,
passing through the undulating scenery of the
Phoenix Park. Troops were being paraded on the
fifteen acres, cannon roared, and a feu de joie was
discharged while the popular Viceroy, Lord Mul-

Digitized by VjOOQle

16 MEMORIES OF FA THER JAMES MEALY

grave, galloped along the red line. Some minutes
later found father and son passing under Knock-
maroon Hill and penetrating the tranquil enclosure
of St. Vincent’s College.

From the nursery of childhood James Healy
passed to the nursery of bishops. Patrick Moran,
afterwards Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand,
entered Castleknock at the same time. The Vin-
centian Fathers — including Dr. Dixon, brother of
the Primate; Lynch, afterwards Archbishop of
Toronto ; Gillooly, afterwards Bishop of Elphin ;
MacCabe, Bishop of Ardagh ; and Dr. James
Lynch, now Bishop of Kildare — solemnly received
the new boys. The latter acted as ghostly director
to the school.

I don’t know whether Healy made it a subject of
confession, but it is certain that during a vacation
ramble he visited Donnybrook Fair, with its deafen-
ing din of gong, trumpet and drum. Calvert’s
theatre was there to harrow up the soul with ‘Varney
the Vampire ; or, The Feast of Blood.’ Camped
around were smaller stages, on which strode kings
and clowns, queens and Columbines, and a peep-
show, where, among other wonderful sights, Bona-
parte was pointed out crossing the Alps in an open
boat. Tents without end, in which people danced
like mad, displayed outside all sorts of signs and
legends, one of which Father Healy often quoted to
amuse his friends :

Digitized by CjOOQle

SPRIG OF SHILLALAGH

1 7

‘ This is the sign of the Cock ;

Step in, my ould hen,

Empty your glass,

And fill it again/

Many a man took the bait,

‘ Stept into a tent, and spent half a crown ;

Came out, met a friend, and for love knocked him down,
With his sprig of shillalagh and shamrock so green/

But James Healy was content to study the scene
as a laughing philosopher. By the exertions of local
clerics the time-honoured observance of Donny-
brook Fair was, later on, suppressed ; but the
struggle was for life or death, and brought more
than one priest to his grave. For centuries Donny-
brook Fair opened in August with ‘ walking Sunday,’
and its orgies went on, night and day, for a week.

James Healy’s smartness was soon recognised at
Castleknock, and gradually its lay-school assumed
large proportions.

As I know nothing about them, I will not venture
to describe the doubtless frequent forewarnings of
grace which may have marked him, like the youth-
ful Timothy, for the priesthood of Christ. ‘Un-
fortunately we have not the records of the public
examinations of these years,’ writes the present
President. Mr. John Gannon was in the Humanity
class with Healy, but he is unable to say that the
youth was remarkable in any way, unless as a good
ball-player. Captain Keogh, R.M., states that
Healy acted as monitor and instructed him in Virgil.

2

Digitized by CjOOQle

i8 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

The Congregation of the Mission includes of late
years many genial and pleasant men, whom to
know is to love ; but most of the earlier Fathers at
Castleknock were 4 Northerns/ with a demeanour
which James regarded as austere and depressing.
The sports that now attract so many visitors
to the school on the hospitable call of its
Rector were then wholly unknown. There were
no running in sacks, no jumping, no marquees,
no amateur bands. Solemnity was the order of
the day.*

Father Healy has described a primitive and very
ascetic Father who was much shocked by a reply he
got when catechizing a sailor’s son :

‘ What is cursing?’

‘ Wishing ill to one’s neighbour.’

‘Cannot you give me a more comprehensive
definition, child ?’

‘ your eyes, holy Father.’

The Fathers saw that James Healy had talent ;
they also saw that he had a vocation for the
Church ; and it was only natural that they should
expect him to become a priest at Castleknock. He
did not like to say ‘No/ and at last entered the
earlier stage of the noviciate preparatory to com-

* On the other hand, Francis O’Beirne, who was at Castle-
knock with James Healy, described it to me, in 1841, as ‘ the
Happy Valley ’ ; but his head was of a mould very different
from that of James Healy.

Digitized by CjOOQle

IN THE NOVICIATE

*9

pleting it at Paris. ‘ He is one whom I can never
forget/ writes the venerable Bishop Lynch; ‘I
was so struck with his sterling virtue.’*

The time James Healy was now spending was
one of enforced silence — what were his thoughts ?
When we remember the vivacity of his mind, they
must have been kaleidoscopic. ‘ I loved to wander
round the battlements of the old castle/ he said,
‘ and during part of the time I employed myself in
throwing stones at the jackdaws which, with a
great deal of talk, clustered at the top of the
tower/ But gradually the ruined castle was found
to convey ‘ sermons in stones.’ There were few
graves of dead Fathers t to stumble over then ; and
some of his thoughts, it may be concluded, were
given to the past history of the towering ruin, with
its double lines of fortifications, from which trees
and fern shoot up and proclaim the empire of
nature over that once almost impregnable citadel.
It was at one time held by the Danes, afterwards
by Nial, monarch of Ireland. Within its walls the
patriot prelate St. Laurence O’Toole nerved King
Roderick O’Conor by his voice and blessing : from

* The Bishop, the sole survivor of the founders of Castel-
knock, adds a date which will be interesting to his friends
and useful for his future biographer : ‘ On Saturday, January 9
[1895] , if God spares me, I will be in my eighty-ninth year.’

f On digging the grave of Father Plunkett, within the
castle, a wonderful pagan cromlech was found, with human
bones that fell to dust on exposure.

Digitized by LjOOQle

20 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

its pinnacle Owen Roe O’Neill denounced Oliver
Cromwell.

O’Byrne, chieftain of Wicklow, was a name which
never failed to interest James Healy, who will be
found in after-years often entertaining the repre-
sentative of that sept. Eibhleen — daughter of a
former O’Toole — had been carried off by Roger
Tyrrell, and locked up in the turret of Castleknock.
Hearing footsteps at night on the stone stairs
outside, she used a brooch to open a vein in her
neck, and bled to death. Of this girl, who preferred
death to dishonour, a Vincentian Father writes : ‘ It
was long a popular belief that at the hour of mid-
night a female figure robed in white might be seen
moving slowly round the castle.’

Lady de Lacy was of a different type. In the
absence of her husband, who had gone forth in the
van of the Catholic army, she is found defending
the same castle with 50 men against Ormond’s
4,000 foot and 500 horse, and by her prowess
laying 400 of the besiegers low. Other memories
recalled the march of Bruce to Castleknock, when
the mingled music of pibroch and harp resounded
through the peaceful valley. Holier thoughts suc-
ceeded the profane. St. Patrick, as St. Evin records,
had made a special mission to Castleknock. The
Apostle, describing his visions, tells us that he
heard, in his mind, a voice cry, ‘We pray thee,
holy youth, to come and henceforth walk amongst

Digitized by LjOOQle

HE LEA VES THE VINCENTIANS

21

us.’ These were thoughts no doubt highly sug-
gestive, but James Healy, on reflection, felt that he
could not ‘ go and do likewise.’ A hurried line to
his father announced this decision, and John Healy
in a day or two proceeded to break the news to
Dean Dowley. This ecclesiastic little James held
in special awe. When the President came down,
he found his visitor surveying, with seeming satis-
faction, the furniture, pictures, and general sur-
roundings. ‘ You have got a beautiful place here !*
he said ; ‘ and, so far as I am concerned, I could
live here for ever ; but as for James, he says he
can’t stay here at all.’

‘ We had his trousseau ready,’ said good Bishop
Lynch;* and it is not improbable that, had he
remained, it would have given place at last to the
rochet, cope, and pectoral cross, as in the case of
his contemporaries, Kilduff and MacCabe. Possibly,
too, he might have become a second Basil, who, in
addition to his classical gifts and great skill in
argument, is thus described by his bosom friend,
St. Gregory Nazianzen : ‘ Who more amiable

* It does honour to this good man, who had the reputation
of being one of the severest of the Fathers, that he felt far
from annoyed with James Healy for breaking away from the
Vincentian rule. Since the death of the latter, his lordship
has addressed a letter to the committee of the Healy
Memorial, proudly claiming him * as his old pupil and very
esteemed friend,’ and enclosing £5 towards the object in
view.

Digitized by LjOOQle

22 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

than he? who as pleasant as he in social inter-
course? who could tell a story with more wit?
who could jest more playfully ?’

A taste of this quality is found in a remark of
James Healy’s in 1886 on meeting, after a long
absence, his new Diocesan, who had just then
grasped the ecclesiastical reins of Dublin. 'My
Lord, James O’Donnell’s mother once said to me,
“ If you had only behaved yourself, you might have
been a bishop yourself now.” *

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 23 J

CHAPTER H.

‘ The Repeal Year ’ — Maynooth College entered — Peel endows
it with A‘30,000 a Year — Dr. O’Hanlon — Dr. Murray —
Destructive and Constructive Theologians — Anecdotes —
Rev. Nicholas Callan — The Dunboyne House — The Round-
robin.

James Healy came home aglow with memories of
auld lang syne. The West End of Dublin is the
reverse in character to the West End of London, but
to him the dingy street seemed all couleur de rose.
Father Patrick Murray, the quondam curate in
Francis Street, whom he had known and loved,
was now winning golden opinions at Maynooth;
and this thought was one of the attractions
which beckoned Healy to Maynooth, the alma
mater of the Irish priesthood, and the ancient
home of the Geraldines.

Who should happen to be in Dublin during the
then vacation at Maynooth but Dr. Patrick Murray !
He revisited Francis Street, and promised John
Healy to share his family dinner. It was casually
mentioned that evening that James had decided

Digitized by

Google

24 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HE ALT

on entering Maynooth. Murray motioned him
paternally to his side, and questioned him freely
on ethics and logic. He was pleased with the
replies, and after a further talk said : ‘ These are
the points on which you will be examined.’

In the autumn of 1843, when the youth of
Ireland were marching in thousands to Tara,
Mullaghmast, and Clontarf, under the banner of
‘ Repeal,’ James Healy is found wending his way
to Maynooth. Here he matriculated on Septem-
ber 11, 1843. The first course at Maynooth is
classics, but he had no need to study that science.
The second course is natural philosophy, which
embraces metaphysics, logic, and ethics. James
Healy went up for examination in logic conjointly
with several other students, including Martin
Barlow, afterwards P.P., St. Kevins.* All failed

* Father Healy told some amusing stories of Barlow in
after-life. Here is one. He was a man of much simplicity f
and apt to attach credence to exaggerated statements. When
returning to Dublin from Holyhead, he found a genial fellow -
passenger in a gentleman with whom for some hours he
paced the deck. In the course of conversation, Father
Barlow alluded to one of the highest lights of the nobility
who had filled the post of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. ‘ I
understand,’ he added, ‘ he is very hard up, and that all the
family plate is pledged.’ ‘That is very bad news for me,*
was the reply. ‘ I am coming to Ireland to attend the
marriage of my sister, who is about to become the wife of his
son.’ The priest felt so stunned by the awkward blunder he had
committed that he made no attempt at apology, but rushed
down the stairs and sought refuge in his berth.

Digitized by LjOOQle

SIR ROBERT PEELS GRANT

25

to pass with the exception of Healy. He entered
for the class of natural philosophy, read that
course one year, and theology — dogmatic and
moral — for three years, and in the academic year
1847-48 became a Dunboyne student under the
Very Bev. John O’Hanlon.

James Healy was at Maynooth in 1845, when
Peel increased from £8, 000 to £30,000 its annual
grant.* Dr. Montague, the President, was in the
habit of conveying from Dublin — in an old post-
chaise by which he travelled — the entire amount
of each quarterly instalment of the Go^rnment
grant, and he never lost, nor was in dread of losing,
one farthing, although his route lay through
Lucan, passing close to a tablet on the roadside
recording the murder of a priest in 1807 by high-
waymen.

Peel’s grant came opportunely, just before the
Irish famine. Every student was entitled to .£20
a year under this arrangement, and the £5 paid
quarterly enabled not a few — who, unlike James
Healy, came from a poor stock — to keep the spark
of life in some aged parent, shivering by the
mountain-side or bed-ridden on the earthen floor.
The famine, which set in immediately after Peel’s

* When the Irish Church was being disestablished, i-372,831
was paid to Maynooth College in lieu of its grant. The bulk
of this sum having been lent to an Irish peer as a first charge
on his estates, it was lost during the crisis of the Land
Agitation.

Digitized by

Google

26 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

bounty, and continued in its desolating effects for
several years, left the class of people from whose
ranks the priesthood mostly came unable to pay
for a college course. Father Healy held that, but
for this timely endowment, the Church might have
been reduced to a state bordering on ruin. There
can be no doubt that the plague which desolated
England in 1517, and again in 1528 and later, left
candidates for the priesthood so few that numbers
of ill-qualified men were accepted, and thus paved
the way to the Reformation, or great schism, which
rent Germany in 1517, and England in 1584.

No two men could be more unlike in character-
istics than the great masters of theology under
whom Healy read. Dr. O’Hanlon — the ablest
canonist of his day — was a destructive, not a construc-
tive, theologian. He loved to demolish orally the
arguments of all his ecclesiastical contemporaries,
and to scatter to the four winds of heaven the
dust of some of the most treasured authorities in
the past. He left not one line of writing behind
him* It was his custom to trace on a slate his
most carefully digested views, and, when the class
was over for the day, to erase all with a sponge or
the sleeve of his coat.

Different from the destructive theologian, Dr.
O’Hanlon, Patrick Murray, Professor of Moral
Theology, was essentially a constructive one. He
produced a number of able books, especially one of

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE PROFESSOR OF MORAL THEOLOGY 27

great exhaustiveness on the Church, in which the
tenets of every sect are elaborately and fairly stated.
The 4 Tractatus de Ecclesia Christi ’ was issued in
three tomes, and is admitted to be the highest
authority in the French and Roman schools. At
the Vatican Council no book was more frequently
quoted.

In his addresses to the class he constantly
utilized his experiences whilst on the mission in
Francis Street, and it was strange that he had so
much to tell respecting that short period of ten
months. These experiences were so purely pro-
fessional that they claim not insertion here ; but
Healy was amused by his mention of 4 Fumbally’s
Lane,’ from which Murray’s first sick-call came.
Dr. Murray was a fine elocutionist, and, when he
read aloud a favourite author for the students, a pin
might be heard to drop. Father Healy copied this
accomplishment to such purpose that people used
to go to Little Bray, attracted by the manner in
which he read the Gospel of the day. Dr. Murray
was the spiritual father of a long sacerdotal
family, two thousand priests having passed through
his classes. Carlyle is hard on him, but to be
abused by Carlyle is in itself high praise.

Dr. Murray was a native of Clones. A professor
of Trinity College, in sitting next him at dinner,
opened conversation by remarking, ‘Not a bad
place is Clones.’ ‘ Not a worse out of Hull 9 (hell),

Digitized by

Google

28 MEMORIES OF FA THER JAMES HEAL Y

was the reply. * I once preached in Clones,’ he
told James Healy. ‘The chapel was packed.
Coming near the end, I said, “ One more word and I
have done !” “ Oh, my darlint,” exclaimed an old

woman, throwing up her hands, “that you may
never be done !” ’ This crone is said to have waxed
indignant when afterwards told that he had gone to
Lam (Larne) to preach.

Dr. Murray’s reputation as a preacher grew
apace. His seeming concentration of thought on
such occasions did not prevent him from observing
vigilantly the effect produced on each face by
his fervid words. They seared their way into
stubborn hearts, or fell like manna around.
O’Hanlon, on the other hand — a man of probably
even greater mark than Murray — could not preach
one word, and at times was somewhat absent.
Ordinarily shrewd, no man could put his finger in
O’Hanlon’s eye, but yet he has been known to
do this to himself. ‘ Once when engaged on a
problem,’ observes Canon Pope, ‘he put into his
eye a pinch of snuff! This mistake caused him
great suffering, which led the great preceptor to say
that ere long he might be obliged to announce “ a
vacancy for a pupil here.” ’ Again, intending to
throw two letters into the fire, he consigned to the
flames a valuable snuff-box and the key of his
room.*

* Very Rev. John O’Hanlon, D.D., to Rev. Peter Molloy, P.P.

Digitized by LjOOQle

DOCTORS CULLEN AND CALLAN. 29

Dr. O’ Hanlon was consulted on knotty points and
cases of conscience by bishops all over the world.
At Maynooth his fund of wit and drollery made his
appearance welcome, when daily he joined the
other professors at table. But for this reputa-
tion, he would probably have been raised by Rome
to the Primacy. His name, which had been
influentially recommended, was set aside, and
the Rev. Paul Cullen, Rector of the Irish College
at Rome, whose claims had not been urged, came
to Armagh. The humour of which O’Hanlon had
been full fed had matured that sense in his pupil.

The Professor under whom Healy read natural
philosophy for one year was the Rev. Nicholas
Callan, famous as the inventor of the Callan
battery. Of general literature he was innocent,
and on ‘ Dr. Paddy Murray ’ asking him if he had
read ‘ Nicholas Nickleby,’ Callan thinking that some
subtle allusion to himself was meant, replied : 1 No,
nor “Paddledy Pabbleby” either.’

Dr. O’Hanlon, as I have said, had charge of the
Dunboyne establishment at Maynooth. Though
James Healy became a student in the Dunboyne —
a school usually regarded as embracing the pick of
the college— he was not a hard reader. All he
gathered was the cream sedulously administered by
his fast friend, Henry Neville, afterwards the
distinguished Professor of Theology. The bonds
which subsisted through life between Neville and

Digitized by CjOOQle

30 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Healy were severed only by death. Canon Cahill,
now parish priest of Tipperary ; and James
Kavanagh, afterwards the accomplished President
of Carlow College, and vindicator of the Vatican
decrees, were also with Healy in the Dunboyne.*

It was of Cahill Healy said that he preached in
Latin every Sunday, Latin being the name of the
parish of which Cahill was then pastor. Kavanagh
shared Healy’s sense of humour. At Carlow he
once said to some ecclesiastical students, whose
progress had not been rapid : ‘ Gentlemen, if you
don’t make better progress, you’ll have the tonsure
by nature before you’re entitled to it in Orders.’
Somebody called James Kavanagh and James
Healy the gems (Jems) of the school.

Matthew Flanagan, the parish priest of Francis
Street, was secretary to the Board of Maynooth
College, and had steadily held that any complaints
as regards grievances which the Dunboyne students
cared to make should be addressed to him, and not
to the President. Some few complaints had
previously failed to meet attention, but James

* Dr. Butler, Bishop of Cork, having succeeded to the
peerage of Dunboyne, petitioned Pius VI. for a dispensation
to marry, but without success. He then conformed to the
ProteBtant religion, and married his cousin ; but on his death-
bed, in 1802, he returned to the fold, and left his property to
endow the higher school long famous as the Dunboyne. His
widow, known in society as the Dowager Lady Dunboyne,
married Mr. Hubert Moore and survived until the year 1867.

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE ROUND ROBIN

3 *

Healy gave his fellows a glimpse of the pro-
crastinating ways of this child of genius. Any
letter from the students, he said, would possibly
be found by Flanagan’s executor in place of book-
marker in the Art Journal , or hidden away in a
portfolio of Hogarth’s plates. At Healy’s suggestion
they now formulated their demands in the form of
a round-robin, on which it was impossible not to
act. Flanagan was not a little puzzled and piqued
by the round-robin which now perched on his
desk. For some time he suspected James Healy as
privy to it ; but he finally relaxed and forgave him.

The Chapel House in Francis Street, which had
long been regarded as an oasis in the Liberty,
lost some prestige owing to the practical jokes of
old Father Smith. Flanagan, however, still plied
with unflagging zeal the chisel and the brush, and
unctuously mingled with his daily orisons the old
Latin verse in which the liberal arts had been
whilom summed up. * Lingua, Tropus, Ratio,
Numerus, Tonus, Angulus, Astra.’

But the time now approached when this good
man must go. # He lost relish for food, and would
consult his housekeeper as to something which

* Dr. Flanagan’s nerves had sustained a great shock by
the death in his church, on a Christmas morning, of several
persons who, on a false cry of ‘ Fire !* rushed in panic to the
doors. When dying, he left his valuable library to the young
Catholic University ; but Cardinal Cullen laid an embargo
on it, and removed the books to Clonliffe.

Digitized by

Google

32 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

might possibly prove appetising. Wild fowl was
suggested. ‘ Pshaw ! I’m sick of birds.’ * There-
upon,’ said Father Healy, ‘ he turned to my father
for counsel. What would he recommend? “Bacon,
of course.” Dr. Flanagan, rather than hurt the
feelings of his parishioner, consented to try what
virtue might lie in a “ mild cure.” *

To the end Father James retained pleasant
recollections of his sire’s craft. Long after, when
driving in a gig with a man of the world, their way
was blocked by a drove of pigs, and this person so
far forgot himself in the presence of a priest as to

exclaim, ‘ D n them !’ The memory of early

days came back, and the priest quietly said, ‘I
would rather see them saved '

Digitized by LjOOQle

t 33 ]

CHAPTER III.

Ordination and First Appointment — Dean Meyler’s Dinners
— Archbishop Murray — Tom Moore — P. V. Fitz-Patrick —
Smock Alley Presbytery Fifty Years Ago — Rev. Andrew
O’Connell — Father Meehan and the Fiery Chariot of Elias
— An Iron-clamped Coffin — Canon Roche — Zozimus —
McCarthy, the Poet — Saul's Court— Father Healy, Curate
of Bray — Tinnahinch.

Father Healy entered on his duties as a priest
during a period of sectarian excitement. A storm
swept through England, owing to the Papal Bull —
which, to quote the words of its denunciators,
parcelled out the country into episcopal sees, or,
as Cardinal Wiseman said, merely restored to
England its ancient hierarchy — and the hurricane
of wrath soon reached Dublin. The young Levite,
however, was only amused by the row, and enjoyed
the joke of a brother priest/ that the English were
very stupid, because when the Pope sent them a
bull they thought it a bore.

His first appointment was to the Church of St.

* Rev. Thomas Pope.

3

Digitized by LjOOQle

34 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Andrew, Westland Row, not as a curate, but as
reader, entrusted with the duty of celebrating a
daily Mass and attending the Sisters of Mercy,
Baggot Street, as chaplain. At St. Andrew’s the
Very Rev. Walter Meyler, Vicar-General and Dean
of Dublin, presided — the first and last parish priest
of Westland Row. He took an active part in the
administration of the diocese, and by his counsel
and influence ruled it quite as much as the ‘ mild
personage ’ in the mitre noticed by Moore.*
Murray and Meyler had been fellow-curates in
Liffey Street Chapel from 1807, and between them
an affectionate friendship sprang up, which lasted
through life. As a theologian and politician
Meyler was essentially a moderate man, the reflex
of his revered chief, Archbishop Murray, and, like
him, too, he loved to dispense among friends, lay
and cleric, a generous hospitality. He was the
friend of Moore, whom he entertained more than
once, and heard sing :

* Fill the bumper fair !

Every drop we sprinkle
O’er the 'brow of Care,

Smooths away a wrinkle.

* Thomas Moore refers to Meyler (‘ Journals/ vii. 299), and
speaks of him as likely to succeed to the mitre of Murray. A
priest’s dinner in Dublin is previously described (p. 106) : ‘ A
good deal of singing by the reverends ; one gave an Irish
melody not badly. The Archbishop a mild, quiet personage.’
Moore and Murray both died in April, 1852. The registry of
Moore’s birth is preserved in St. Andrew’s, Westland Row.

Digitized by CjOOQle

P V ; FITZ-PA TRICK

35

Wit’s electric flame
Ne’er so swiftly passes
As when through the frame

It shoots from brimming glasses.’

Bat the bard for whom a knife and fork was
regularly laid was Patrick Vincent Fitz-Patrick,
Assistant Registrar of Deeds, one of whose ‘ squibs,’
addressed to Meyler, will be found in the Appendix.
Bis role , though somewhat that of a Court jester,
was really much higher. As a story-teller and im-
provisator he held a high repute, and Healy was
not unmindful of the secret of his success. One
epigram by ‘ P. V.’ he was fond of quoting :

‘ Dear reverend friends, whose taste pictorial
Preserves in windows, styled “ memorial,”

Saints, soldiers, generous, jovial sinners,

Who win their glories by good dinners,

Oh ! spare for us of fading sight

Some crystal panes of Heav’n’s pure light,

Else we must grope our beads, for Prayer-Books
Must soon to us be “ closed/’ or rare books.

And spite of “ Ordo ’’ or the “ Ritual,”

You’ll make our “ Tenebrae ” perpetual.’

A host ‘taking wine’ with his guests, accom-
panied by courtly bows, was a time-honoured
custom which died out in the fifties. A joke of the
day had it that the man who did this should say,
if a doctor, not ‘your health,* but ‘my service to
you.’* Healy, describing Dean Meyler, said that

* Thackeray notices the advantages of this practice especially
in the case of a silent host : ‘ Bob, my boy, what shall it be,
’ock or champagne ?’

Digitized by CjOOQle

36 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

his custom was to say frequently to the same

guest, ‘ Mr. , have I had wine with you ?* or,

‘ Have you drunk to me ?’ If he replied, ‘ Yes, I
had that honour/ he would never be asked again.
One evening the question came, ‘ Mr. Healy, are
you drinking?’ * Yes, sir, like a young Dean/ was
his answer. Faces fell, and fears were felt by his
friends that this reply would give offence; but
nothing of the kind ; henceforth the Dean’s paternal
attentions increased.

Meyler liked to have at his table young priests of
promise, and no face was more familiar there than
that of the Kev. Myles, now Canon, MacManus,
whose lifelong relations with Healy began at this
time. From Meyler Healy imbibed that love of
hospitality as a host, and the tendency to Con-
servatism in politics, which characterized him ever
after.

It should not be inferred that on such occasions
as have been described much wine was drunk. I
have often seen the Eev. John Kearney, when asked
to take wine, pretend to fill his glass, holding
the bowl of it as he did so in the belief that the
feint would not be noticed. If any man made an
overture to Father Meehan to take wine he would
resent it.

A vacancy having occurred in the old city parish
of SS. Michael and John’s, Father Healy was
appointed curate by Archbishop Murray. Its

Digitized by CjOOQle

DEAN O'CONNELL

37

pastor, the Very Rev. Andrew O’Connell, belonged
to much the same type as Meyler, and even-
tually succeeded him as Dean. People knew him
perhaps rather less as a host than as a visitor to
the boudoir or conversazione ; and after a day of
toil he liked to move in cultured circles, where his
genial presence and polished manners made him at
all times welcome. His example lent, perhaps, a
further influence in helping to shape the course
and character of James Healy. Another circum-
stance claims record. Healy* s appreciation of
brain-power and of incisive retort was now daily
fed by companionship with his fellow - curate,
Charles Patrick Meehan, a man who, with great
learning, acquired by a distinguished collegiate
course in Italy, possessed a rare originality of
character, blemished by eccentric traits, which
the more courtly Healy viewed at this time with
indulgence, and the intimacy thus begun con-
tinued to the end. Forty years after, as he stood
by the death-bed of Meehan, in the same old house
in Smock Alley, he brushed away a tear, the
only thing, as he afterwards said, which seemed to
have been brushed in that room for many a long
day.

Healy had quaint memories of the old * chapel-
house’ of SS. Michael and John's when he and
Meehan were fellow-curates. Meehan, as ‘ a
Young Irelander,* was opposed to the moderate

Digitized by

Google

38 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

party to which the parish priest belonged. Nothing
piqued the democratic priest more than when Dr.
O’Connell would ask to dinner Lord Fingall and
other Catholic Whigs; and he always chose the
day on which his chief issued cards to give an
opposition feast; but his hour would be five
o’clock, while O’Connell’s was much later.

Just as the distinguished guests would be arriv-
ing, festive sounds, with snatches of song and
screams of laughter from Meehan’s room, agonized
the more formal host, especially when Meehan’s
shrill voice would be heard rowing the servants for
neglecting to supply his guests with 1 more boiling
water.’

But Father Healy had other stories of these days
which ought not to be lost. It was with a sense of
relief that O’Connell at last received from Arch-
bishop Murray a letter offering him the parish of
St. Mary, Haddington Road ; and Meehan was not
sorry to get rid of him. This parish embraced
Irishtown, Kingsend, Sandymount, Donnybrook,
and Roebuck, and it was felt that the presentation
of a brougham and horse would prove a useful
tribute of affection. The hat, as usual, went
round. A deputation, headed by Luke Dillon and
Alderman Butler, both of Whig tendencies, waited
on Meehan. It may be premised that chronic
dyspepsia, from which, like Carlyle, he suffered all
his life, sharpened his tongue. He affected not to

Digitized by LjOOQle

A CHOLERIC PRIEST

39

know either of the two leading parishioners, and
when Butler grandiloquently announced * the depu-
teetion,’ Meehan asked him to be good enough to
speak English. The choleric little priest then took
a small coin from off his chimney-piece. This, he
said, was a bad halfpenny which had come to him
in the weekly collection — possibly given by one of
the persons there before him ; ‘ but yet,* he added,
holding it up, ‘ if that little coin could purchase the
reversion of the fiery chariot that conveyed Elias to
heaven, I would not give it.’ -

Alderman Butler, the chief parishioner of SS.
Michael and John’s, posed as a vocalist. When
Healy dined with him, the host always sang
‘I saw from the bich when the morning was
shining,’ thus murdering the first line of Moore’s
beautiful melody, * I saw from the beach.’ And
Healy, determined not to be outdone, would sing
Mangan’s ‘Time of the Barmecides’*; or, when
the Alderman relaxed the formal gravity of a chair-
man, ‘ The Nowlans and Neals.*

Soon after Father Healy’s appointment to SS.
Michael and John’s lie found himself much in-
terested in a series of papers published by Mr.
J. T. Gilbert, in which the older streets of Dublin
were repeopled with men of the past, and long-
hushed song and story heard once more within

* And Bichard Dalton Williams sang a parody on it, ‘ The
Days of the Barmaid’s Eyes.’

Digitized by

Google

40 MEMORIES OF FA THER JAMES MEALY

their crumbling walls. His lot was cast, and his
work largely performed, in the cluster of streets
thus described. SS. Michael and John’s, with its
sparkling memories and chequered history, built on
the site of old Smock Alley Theatre, is environed
by Parliament Street, Castle Street, Hoey’s Court,
Fishamble Street, Copper Alley, Saul’s Court,
Christchurch Cathedral, the Royal Exchange,
Crampton Court, Temple Bar, and ‘Hell’* — or
what remained of it — Wine Tavern Street and the
ruins of the 4 Black Dog ’ Prison on one side, and
of the old Custom House on the other. Every
recess in its vaults — once the pit of Smock Alley
Theatre — was familiar to him. One small coffin
contained the hallowed bones of Betagh; beside
it lay Francis Magan, B.L., a then undiscovered
informer, whose last instructions were that a yearly
Mass was to be said by all priests of this church for
the repose of his soul. Another coffin held the
mortal part of Keogh, the famous preacher, whose
powers of wit were second only to those of Healy
himself. 4 Alas ! poor Yorick !’ But whose is that
coffin of wonderful size and strength of build, bound
at every joint with great clamps of iron ? It is that
of an old curate who had preceded Healy, the Rev.
Michael Doyle. For years previous to his death he
had in readiness this impregnable sarcophagus,

* * It’s true as that the deil’s in Hell or Dublin city.'

Bums.

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE CHOLERA

41

which led to the remark that when the Day of
Judgment came he would not be able to get out
of it.

A brief epitaph enjoins his friends to pray for
the repose of his soul, ‘and thus, even in the
coffin/ said Father Meehan, ‘he is a preacher of
one of the Church’s most consoling dogmas.' Doyle,
while curate in SS. Michael and John’s, enjoyed the
title of Archdeacon of Glendalough, just as Dr.
Murray during fourteen years that he was Arch-
bishop discharged the duties of a curate in Liffey
Street Chapel.

In April, 1849, the cholera broke out in Dublin,
and continued to rage with relentless violence till
the close of the year. Mr. Sutcliffe, one of the
senior officials of the Hibernian Bank in that parish,
tells me that such was Father Healy’s devotion to
the dying that in one case he had to lie down
beside a cholera patient in order to hear his last
confession; and Mr. Hugh Kennedy says that he
carried a sheaf of straw on his back for one who
was suddenly stricken down.

Dr. O'Connell was succeeded by the Bev.
Nicholas Roche, afterwards Canon, who, from a
peculiar intonation which marked his homilies,
was at once christened by Healy ‘ Zozimus,' in
allusion to a well-known figure that stalked through
Dublin lecturing on the life, conversion, and death
of St. Mary of Egypt, and other sacred topics.

Digitized by LjOOQle

42 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

Roche was a little proud of the fact that Dublin
Castle was under his ffigis, and he regarded as
parishioners the Viceroy and Secretary of State,
who, recognising his claim, contributed to his
schools. On the occasion of a loyal demonstration
in Dublin, he got the gasfitter to erect at the
entrance to the presbytery in Exchange Street
certain elaborate designs, including * V.R.’ ; but a
conspiracy among some local youths who wor-
shipped the name of Emmet succeeded in cutting
the pipes and plunging the place into utter dark-
ness.

The young curate often met D. Florence McCarthy,
the poet, with Meehan. McCarthy had been at
Maynooth studying for the Church, but was senior
to Healy. The latter told as a happy bon-mot the
reply of McCarthy to the query, ‘ Are you related
to James McCarthy the architect?’ ‘Jem an’ I
[Gemini] are twins.*

The poet said that he was going to the ancient
territory of Desmond to attend a grand celebration.

‘AH the McCarthys will attend, including the
McCarthy More,’ he said.

‘If all the McCarthys are to be there, there
cannot be a McCarthy More,’ replied Healy.

SS. Michael and Johns was the first Catholic
church of any pretension that, since the Reforma-
tion, had dared to lift its head in Dublin. Here,
within a hundred yards of the spot where Handel

Digitized by CjOOQle

MOZARTS MUSIC DETHRONED

43

first performed the * Messiah,’ Healy said his daily
Mass amid the peals of a noble organ which pro-
claimed the monarchy of Mozart. The music of
this maestro was soon after dethroned by Church
authority in favour of the Cecilian, and Father
James always regretted the change.

His Mass was at eleven o’clock. The senior
curate, Father John Smyth, remarked that the
punctuality with which Healy came out vested
made him quite a model. Father Meehan replied
that had the Mass been at seven perhaps less
punctuality would have been observed. It being
necessary to celebrate the holy sacrifice fasting,
Healy of course was not a man to defer needlessly
the morning meal, which was always his main
support.*

His attic in the big brick chapel-house — dark
and depressing, shut into a narrow lane by high
houses in front — was yet a starry region, and the
more enjoyable because it adjoined Meehan’s room.
Father Smyth, his fellow-curate, was manager of a
Catholic book-store opposite, and when Meehan
sought to convince him from his window that
better books might be chosen, it was pleasantly
said that they argued from different premises.

For the next six years James Healy lived in

* He never broke his fast between breakfast and dinner,
which, when he dined out, rarely took place before eight
o’clock p.m.

Digitized by

Google

44 MEMORIES OF FA THER JAMES HEAL Y

Smock Alley, the life and soul of his fellow-
labourers in parochial work, traversing rickety
staircases where it was easier to break one’s neck
than one’s fast, attending sick-calls in attic and
cellar, and by his cheerful smile and consoling
word bringing consolation and sunshine to many
a darkened room. An old crone usually waited on
him at the presbytery, and evinced a kindly interest
in his welfare. He came in one day very jaded,
and threw himself in a chair, uttering a sepulchral
groan. The old woman was polishing a grate — or
as much as they ever do polish grates in priests’
houses — and, looking round, she said, ‘ What’s the
matter with you?’ ‘I believe I am in love,* he
replied, with that touch of hyperbole with which
he sometimes made matter-of-fact people stare.
Her reply was, € Troth, an’ I wouldn’t put it apast
ye,* and she resumed her toil.*

The injunction

( Lightly tread, ’tis hallowed ground,'
was literally followed by some persons light-fingered
as well, who stealthily visited the chapels of Dublin.
One day a man complained to the parish priest
that while attending to his sermon a new hat,
which he had placed behind him on the seat, had

* It was in this spirit he said to a lady of rank who asked
him on a visit to her palatial house, * When I come in after
dining out, ma’am, you must allow me to go up by the back-
stairs.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

A MORTALITY OF PRIESTS

45

vanished. The curate interposed, ‘If you had
given more attention to what you heard — “ to
watch as well as pray” — such a thing might not
have happened.’

Between the years 1855 and 1857 five curates of
St. Catharine’s, Meath Street, died — Fathers Fay,
Ennis, Doyle, Murphy, and O’Neil. The pastor,
Dr. Laphen, and his curate, Father McCabe,
followed soon. A transfer of curates to fill two
other vacancies in the same parish became neces-
sary. ‘I am thinking of sending Gorman and
Rorke to Meath Street,’ Archbishop Cullen said.
‘Better send Gerty and Rorke there, my lord,* said
Healy, alluding to the well-known firm of under-
takers.*

The Rev. C. P. Meehan wrote at this time his
‘ History of the O’Tooles,’ to which was prefixed a
sort of autobiographic preface considerably longer
than the history it introduced. An apparent allu-
sion to Healy touches off his bright point neatly :

‘ Have you seen Father H ?’ ‘ Not yet, for

I determined to visit the dead before calling on
him. I know he is well, and living in a back

* A newspaper was published in the parish of SS. Michael
and John’s which probably lost nothing in wit by Healy's
proximity. The above firm having been appointed job-
masters to the Lord-Lieutenant, the announcement was

headed, 1 Bad news for the naming a family who

had already received several lucrative posts.

Digitized by

Google

46 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

street in Dublin. He’s like a glow-worm, shining
all the brighter for the obscurity of his atmo-
sphere.’

One of his first sick-calls was to Saul’s Court.*
Its two or three houses were then let in tenements,
and presented a miserable relic of a more memorable
occupancy. The street where the church stood was
little better. The Corporation dubbed it Essex
Street West, but Father Healy preferred to call it
by the historic name of Smock Alley. Notwith-
standing its proximity to Dublin Castle, its atmo-
sphere remained democratic, but Healy, almost
from the first, was in touch with squalor as well as
wealth.

One day a letter came from Archbishop Cullen,
transferring James Healy from Dublin to a curacy
in the County Wicklow.

Dr. Johnson and the Eev. Sydney Smith have

* About 1759, Laurence Saul, of Saul’s Court, Fishamble
Street, a wealthy Catholic distiller, was prosecuted for having
harboured a young lady who had sought refuge in his house to
avoid being compelled by friends to conform to the Established
Church. The Lord Chancellor, in the course of this trial,
declared that the law did not presume an Irish Papist existed
in the kingdom ! Saul, writing to Charles O’Conor, says :
‘ Since there is not the least prospect of such a relaxation of
the penal laws as would induce one Roman Catholic to tarry
in this place of bondage, who can purchase a settlement in
some other land where freedom and security of property can
be obtained, will you condemn me for saying that if I cannot
be one of the first, I will not be one of the last to take flight ?’

Digitized by LjOOQle

CURATE OF BRAY

47

sought to show that no picturesque scenery, how-
ever beautiful, could equal in attraction lines of
civic streets. But who would not exchange ‘ Cork
Hill * for the ‘ Sugar-loaf,' or ‘ Copper Alley,’ or
even the ‘ Jeweller’s Quay,’ for the ‘ Valley of Dia-
monds ’ ? Nevertheless, he found the change some-
what of a wrench at first, especially when friends
with moistened eyes called to say ‘ Good-bye,’
others to say ‘ God speed.’ Bray was then a very
different place from what it has since become.
‘When I first came to the parish, as Pastor of
Bray,’ said the late Rev. Alexander Roache, ‘there
was not a house between the main street and the
sea-shore.’ But

* Nothing is lost on him who sees
With the eye that feeling gave ;

For him there’s a story in every breeze
And a picture in every wave.*

This county, while abounding in scenes pic-
turesque and memorable, was suggestive of pleasant
thoughts. The misery — which for ages pressed to
the earth the Irish race — was little known in
Wicklow, and its people showed it. From many a
cabin as he passed by, the merry movement of
feet to the air of ‘ The Kilruddery Hunt ' might
be heard. Enniskerry and Cuttlestown were then
in Bray parish, and sick-calls had to be attended
at great distances. One of the curates had often
to ride to Glancree, a wild mountain region.

Digitized by

Google

48 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Apropos of this, a cleric from a still more in-
accessible country told Healy that when going to
say Mass on Sunday, his route lay across a steep
mountain, which was sometimes covered with snow,
and so slippery that he would be compelled to
dismount from his horse and hold on to the tail.
4 Non tali auxilio !’* exclaimed Healy on the
moment, showing that he well remembered his
Virgil.

A more active working priest had not been at
Bray for many a day. The ozone of the sea was
refreshing after the odours of the Liffey, and, braced
and buoyant, he seemed everywhere at once. The
ground he daily traversed was once Church pro-
perty, but in the general suppression of religious
houses it passed by grant to the ancestor of Lord
Meath, the present owner. When the young priest
passed Hollybrook, en route to say his morning
Mass, visions of its former occupant, Robin Adair,
so famed in song, would rise. Nor could Tinna-
hinch, the home of Grattan, be viewed unmoved, t

* * We do not want such aid as that.’

f Dr. Doyle, describing a visit to Tinnahinch in 1814,
writes : 1 1 can assure you that for some minutes the feelings
excited within me were too strong for expression. I was
enraptured with the situation of the man’s dwelling, but still
more with the recollection of himself and our dear country,
which, as he has said, “ he had watched in her cradle and
conducted to her tomb.” ’ Having gone on to see Powerscourt,
Doyle adds, ‘ We returned by Tinnahinch. I stopped, leaned

Digitized by CjOOQle

RELICS OF THE PAST

49

And there, in front of Loretto, where Father Healy
often said Mass, was the sand-bank in which were
found, shortly before, gigantic skeletons of men
mingled with Roman coins of the Emperor Adrian.
Were they the bones of the recreant Celts who
sought to betray Ireland to Agricola ?

One day Father Healy met two young ladies —
one of them now Countess of Wicklow — ascending
the hill on foot, and making fruitless efforts to urge
on a reluctant ass harnessed to a miniature phaeton.
They accosted the Padre in their distress, saying,
‘ Oh, Father Healy, were so glad to meet you.
What shall we do to make this beast proceed ?' * Go

before him/ said the Padre ; ‘ and he is a greater
donkey than I take him to be if he do not follow
you.’

over the wall, sighed, and said, “ Farewell I” * (‘ Life of

Bishop Doyle,’ i. 62, 63.)

Father Healy was not as emotional as Dr. Doyle, but
he showed hiB deep interest in Tinnahinch by preserving a
beautiful painting of it by Sautelle Roberts, R.H.A. This
picture is now in the possession of Lord Powerscourt.

4

Digitized by LiOOQLe

[ So]

CHAPTER IV.

Archbishop Cullen — Rev. Alexander Roache — Forty-three
Chapels burnt in the Troubles — Kilmacanogue — Rev. Dr.
Miley — Father Trevor’s Blunder — Anecdote — F ather
Lavelle — Dean Lee, P.P., Bray — Anecdote — The Brothers
Fry — Loretto — Father Healy as a Confessor.

Dr. Murray was succeeded in the archiepiscopal
see by the Most Rev. Paul Cullen, who from his
youth had lived in Rome, and imbibed from Pope
Pio Nono a strong admiration for Ultramontane
views, with a proportionate dislike to those
Gallican tendencies which Murray and Meyler
held in common with nearly all the Irish priests of
the time. After Murray's death, Meyler, as Vicar
Capitular, had made two appointments of parish
priests, which Dr. Cullen lost no time in annul-
ling ; and Meyler ceased to be Vicar-General under
the new regime, and would also have ceased to be
‘ P.P.* of Westland Row if Dr. Cullen had succeeded
in deposing him. It may be well to explain that
that parish had been, as it again became on
Meyler’s death, a mensal parish, the emoluments

Digitized by LjOOQle

REV. ALEXANDER ROACHE

5

of which go to the support of tfie archiepiscopal
household ; but Archbishop Murray, by a special
arrangement with Rome, had got Meyler appointed
* P.P.’ of Westland Row. Dr. Cullen tried to get
the appointment broken, but it is a ticklish thing
to repudiate a document in which Rome has had a
hand. Meyler resisted, and in the end Dr. Cullen
dropped the attempt.

A diplomatic priest would probably have thrown
himself into the fresher atmosphere of Ultramon-
tane policy ; but Healy never swerved from the
principles he had imbibed at the feet of Gamaliel.

Healy found in the Rev. Alexander Roache, parish
priest of Bray, a fine specimen of the traditional
Soggarth Aroon.* He received his new curate with
a grasp like the pressure of a vice. A father to the
poor and the orphan, he was the hospitable host
and the vigilant parochus f as well. He remem-
bered the horrors of 1798 ; he would tell of the
thirty-three chapels burnt in his native diocese of
Ferns, and of the ten burnt in the county of Wick-
low, including one in the parish of Bray. He
would describe how Archbishop Murray, when
curate of Arklow, was pursued by the Orange
yeomanry and fired at as he swam across the river
at Shelton Abbey. Roache now lived in happier

* Anglice, Darling Priest.

f * Parochus ’ is the word used by the Council of Trent to
describe a parish priest.

Digitized by

Google

52 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

times, but the scar and the brand remained long
after the shackles had been unlocked.

The new curate was informed that among his
duties would be that of saying the eight o’clock
Mass at Kilmacanogue, and afterwards the twelve
o’clock or last Mass at Bray. It was at this time
that Archbishop Cullen wrote a pastoral address in
aid of a collection for the Catholic University then
recently started, and Father Boache was anxious
that Bray should not be backward in donations.
Healy, on returning from the early Mass at Kil-
macanogue, handed £1 5s. 6£d. to Boache, the
amount of the collection. * Oh, my dear sir !’ he
exclaimed, quite scared at the poor result ; ‘ pray,
did you tell them all about it ?*

‘ If I did, they would have given me nothing at
all,’ replied the new curate.

Father Healy knew his sheep, and his sheep
knew him. His weekly visit to this quaint village
on the road to Wexford — situated between the
great and smaller Sugar-loaf mountains — was full
of interest to him. The small chapel in which
he said Mass was a relic of penal times, and
might be regarded as the successor of the ivy-
mantled ruin, fringed by the graves of rude fore-
fathers, which formed a picturesque object adjacent.
The steadfast faith and piety of its pr imi tive, people
edified him ; he entered into their little joys and
sorrows ; his cheerful smile and pleasant greeting

Digitized by

Google

DR. MI LEY

53

won their hearts ; and he soon knew the inside
of every cabin as well as the gilded salons, in which
he was equally welcome. The Meaths, the Moncks,
the Powerscourts, and the Putlands, were from the
first his best friends.

There was a cordial frankness about the Rev.
Alexander Roache which contrasted with the severe
reserve that another Wicklow pastor notoriously
maintained towards his curate. His ordinary form
of salutation to his new curate, no matter how
often he met him in the day, was: ‘Father
Healy, I use you gaily. How do you do, ray
dear sir ?’

James Healy had not been many months with
Father Roache when the good old man died, full of
years and honours. For some little time Healy
and his fellow-curate, Father Trevor, managed
things ecclesiastical in the parish. At last Dr.
Miley arrived, and, having been delicately coached
by Healy, proceeded to enter on his pastoral
work.

The name of Miley was specially dear to Ireland
as that of an eminent pulpit orator and the priest
in whose arms her ‘Liberator’ died at Genoa.
Archbishop Murray had the highest respect and
love for him. In 1849 he accepted the presidential
chair of the Irish College of Paris, but ten years
later, driven from it by the rude cabal of Father
Lavelle, he undertook the duties of a missionary

Digitized by

Google

54 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

priest at Bray. Here Dr. Miley preached after the
first Gospel of the last Mass. The latter, on this
occasion, was celebrated by Father Trevor, who,
oblivious of the fact that while he was reading the
Gospel Dr. Miley had emerged from the sacristy
and took up a kneeling position at the altar steps
previous to delivering the divine message of which
he was bearer, at once began Credo in Unum Deurn .
It may be mentioned parenthetically that at the
conclusion of the Gospel Trevor should have retired
to the right of the altar and there occupied a seat
while Dr. Miley preached. With an imposing flourish
of his arms, however, he proceeded to recite in Latin
the Nicene Creed.

Miley waited until the conclusion of the Credo ,
clinging to the hope that Trevor, when turning
round to say the Dominos Vobiscum , might
become alive to and correct his blunder. When
saying the Dominos , however, he had a habit of
keeping his eyes shut fast rather than cast down, as
prescribed by the rubric; and thus he failed to
notice the fully-robed figure who now stood directly
in front of him.

Dr. Miley rose and returned to the vestry.
Father Healy was in the choir, saw the awkward-
ness, and hurried down. i I found him,* he said,
4 white as a sheet, and sinking back in a chair as
though about to swoon. I might have chafed his
bloodless hand, but thought it better to make

Digitized by LjOOQle

AN A WKWARD INCIDENT 55

excuses for Trevor’s egregious blunder.’ Miley
at length said, ‘You have relieved me beyond
measure by the assurance that a mistake has been
made. I thought it was designed; and after my
recent experience with Father Lavelle, you can
hardly wonder.* Dr. Miley had indeed become
hypersensitive. He was as guileless as a child,
and a burnt child dreads the fire.

Miley’s mind was so full of his own books dealing
with the Eternal City,* that often when he preached
it would be on the Catacombs of Rome, or some
equally interesting archseologic or historic fact, and
he never failed to point out the powerful light
which the monument of the Catacombs supplied in
illustration of the life, and in evidence of the faith,
of Christians in primitive ages. He also gave a
course of ‘learned lectures to a rural audience,’
and Father Healy did his best to make the people
appreciate the advantage of the novel and instructive
treat thus offered to them.

A rustic labourer looked after his garden, and
one day suggested that it would be well to get a
watch-dog for its protection. ‘What!’ exclaimed
Dr. Miley, ‘ are the youth of this district so devoid
of all sense of moral rectitude that it needs
to provide a watch-dog to guard their pastor’s

* Among the best known of Dr. Miley’s works are * Rome
under Paganism and the Popes ’ (1848) ; * History of the Papal
States * (1850) ; and * Temporal Sovereignty of the Popes.'

Digitized by CjOOQle

56 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

fruit from plunder?’ ‘Faix, I dun know, yer
riverence; but I know in Father Roache’s time
they wouldn’t leave him the skin of an apple.’
Dr. Miley said nothing, but thought much.

He found in James Healya curate whose exuber-
ance and vivacity refused to be subdued by his awe-
inspiring mien. Miley no doubt was not impervious
to his humorous sallies ; but being accustomed to
the enforcement of ecclesiastical discipline, he
rarely betrayed a disposition to relax what Healy
called his ‘ centre of gravity.’ The rock on which
his church towered was a bleak spot, and Miley,
with lively recollections of the Jardin des Plantes
and the Champs 6lysdes, sought to make things
something brighter. One day, whilst engaged
in putting down evergreens, the talk turned on
local antiquities, especially a pyramidal block of
granite at Old Court, near Bray, on which were
traces of ancient sculpture representing the sacrifice
of a ram. ‘ But,* exclaimed Dr. Miley suddenly, as
he found some young trees that he had overlooked,

‘ what am I to do with these yews ?* Healy, affect-
ing to think that Dr. Miley said ewes , replied,

‘ Ram them down.’* The Gorgon -like look that
Dr. Miley assumed would have frozen into stone
any other man, but Healy’s jokes continued to flow.
One day that his curate brought him to visit Mrs.

* The little plantation has since been cleared away. Not
even a cypress remains in mournful memory of Miley.

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE IRISH BOURDALOUE

57

O’Reilly Dease at Ravenswell, a splendid vista o!
picturesque scenery having been suddenly opened
to their view, Dr. Miley burst into a semi-audible
soliloquy expressive of intense admiration, adding :
* But, of course, Healy, you know nothing of these
things.’ Healy survived the rub, and Miley, as
will be seen, came at last to think better of his
curate.

Meanwhile, Dr. Miley’s sermons, delivered
morning or at eventide, drew some men who
understood them, but far more who did not. The
congregation was largely composed of hill folk,
whose homy hands upraised in prayer were quite an
evidence of their earnestness. The women clenched
each objurgation by successive strokes of their
tongues rapidly applied to the palate. One of the
men, as he left the church, said : i Oh, sir, it was a
grand sermon entirely, the finest that I ever heard
in the whole coorse of my life; but,’ he added,
with becoming humility, 4 it wasn’t for the likes of
me to understand it.’

One who did understand Dr. Miley, and profited
by his sermons, was the Rev. H. B. O’Neil — already
alluded to — who thus describes the Irish Bour-
daloue :

4 In stature he is tall and slight, with a clerical
and commanding look; his countenance is of a
pale, delicate, and melancholy cast, with a meek
and unruffled placidity which tells a mind at peace

Digitized by

Google

58 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

with all below, “ holding sweet converse with spirits
of a brighter world,” and with such fervency do his
thoughts sail from earth to heaven, that at times
he looks like a robed statue, his very countenance
wearing the calm, cold immobility of death ; but you
have only to place him in the pulpit, and his frigid
look evaporates ’neath the burning rays of his soul’s
devotion. Go, listen to him when he stands forth
a suppliant, asking your alms for the widowed
mother, or forsaken orphan, and you will call him
the man of a thousand characters — when you see
his seemingly frozen nature dissolving ’neath the
warm lava of his compassionate heart and sensitive
feelings, while the burning tear trickles down his
pale cheek. Or give him controversy for his theme,
and go listen to him as he stands forth the
champion of his faith: for the first few minutes
you are disappointed ; but suddenly he seizes your
understanding, and you willingly look on the scenes
he portrays, while he grasps his subject with the
firmness of a dying warrior grasping the standard
of his country’s honour. Like lightning darting
through the heavens, he bears you through the
dark and dangerous ages of idolatry and paganism ;
then, like a mighty vessel dashing headlong down
the maddening whirl of the deadly Maelstrom, he
rushes into the bottomless abyss, tearing up the
hidden stores corrupted by the defiled breath of
heresy and apostasy — not, like the ill-fated bark,

Digitized by LjOOQle

FATHER LAVELLE

59

to be engulfed in the boiling stream; for, with
the next eddy, he rises triumphantly before your
view, bearing back the secret inventions of the
corrupt hearts of men, and with a giant hand he
dashes them to pieces before the hallowed sanctuary
of God’s unerring Church. Then he leads you on
to the bloody days of persecution and martyrdom,
to the hidden rocky cell and lonely mountain-cave ;
to the rude altar of stone, and the roofless temple,
despoiled of its glory, and he gives you for your
model the noble constancy of your forefathers, who
clung to that Catholic Church, though she stood in
the midst of persecution and desolation : “He leads
you on and on, until he leaves you enjoying the
blessings of our present age of peace and religion.”
He is not an orator whose early departure you
mourn. No; and you should thank God that he
still lives; he moves, dispensing the blessings of
his sacred calling ; you can both see and hear him
daily. Go, and may you profit by what you hear.**
Wonderful as Dr. Miley is here represented, his
gifts were not more wonderful than Father O’Neil’s
description.

Alas ! the preacher’s days were numbered.

To this ascetic priest Lavelle was the affliction
which Heaven sends to purify the elect. Shortly
before the death of Dr. Miley, he was served with a

* 4 Catholic Register ’ for 1844, p. 859 et scq.

Digitized by

Google

6o MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

subpoena compelling his attendance as a witness at
Galway in the case ‘ Lavelle versus Lord Oranmore.*
Dr. Miley took Healy with him as companion and
comforter; and the curate on his return was not
without stories of their journey. It having been
observed that a priest was preparing to smoke in
the train, Miley’s pale face became still more
pallid. * If any priest/ he said, ‘ had smoked at
Marlborough Street* in my time, we should have
expected him to join the Priests’ Protection Society
in the morning.’

Dr. Miley’s health had been breaking for some
months previous to his death. He brought away
from France a wounded heart ; but, like the
Spartan, he did not let those about him know how
deeply it was gnawed. One day, just as Father
Healy had finished the first Gospel of the last Mass,
he observed, to his surprise, that Dr. Miley was not
in the pulpit, about to preach, as was his wont.
Father Healy had already said the eight o’clock
Mass at Kilmacanogue, and of course remained
fasting until the twelve o’clock Mass should have
been concluded; but instead of being glad of the
opportunity of relieving exhaustion by breaking his
fast, he at once took Dr. Miley’s place in the pulpit,
and surprised all by the power and brilliancy of his
discourse. ‘ Did you preach on the Gospel of the

* The presbytery of the Pro- Cathedral.

Digitized by LjOOQle

REV ; WALTER LEE, D.D. 61

day?* somebody once asked. ‘No; I preached
on the spur of the moment/ was the reply:
‘“Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gosper* *
(1 Cor. ix. 16). Dr. Miley advanced to the pulpit
on some subsequent occasions; he finally all but
tottered to it. Thinkers came to see the evangelist
contend with the empire of death. On April 18, 1861,
he breathed his last. Father Healy had the good
fortune to serve this great priest for sixteen months,
and to pick up grains of gold among the stones of
the fallen temple. He greatly admired Dr. Miley’s
culture and mien, though both in an earlier day
had been marred by occasional pomp of manner;
and on a rather rough priest afterwards saying, ‘ I
never could understand Dr. Miley/ Healy dryly
answered. ‘Only a gentleman could.* Dr. Miley
had a few odditieB, slightly inconsistent with his
ascetic nature ; but the sun itself is not without
spot. ‘ He had four or five wigs of gray hair/
Healy said, ‘all of varying length, which he
changed at calculated intervals, taking care that
each would accurately represent the length to which
the natural hair could have grown under ordinary
circumstances.’ It was even whispered that he had
one with a tonsure, and that all were sent to Paris
twice a year to be dressed.

Dr. Miley was succeeded as parish priest of Bray
by the Rev. Walter Lee, D.D., grand-nephew of
Archbishop Troy. Dr. Lee had made a distin-

Digitized by LjOOQle

62 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

guished course at Maynooth College, of which he
finally became Dean and Secretary to the Board.
He possessed a fund of most interesting anecdote
respecting his grand-uncle and the many eminent
men who had been connected with Maynooth or
prominent in the Church, and he took peculiar
pleasure in confiding it to those who, like the
present writer, thought it a pity it should die with
him. Fifty-nine years a priest, and eighty-four in
this world, he was the link which united the past
with the present generation. Just as in medical
science there are some constitutions with whom
alteratives do not agree, or even certain tonics,
which in others promote the mens sana in corpore
sano, Dr. Lee and Father Healy rather failed to
assimilate. Dr. Miley, although he had no taste
for wit or humour, was greatly liked by Healy.
Dr. Lee, who would sometimes make a funny
remark, never got on well with his witty curate.
Healy, while still curate, was the last to arrive at
a dinner given by Dr. Lee. Previous to his coming,
somebody said, ‘Father Healy is making his toilet.’
‘Oh!’ said Dr. Lee, ‘when Father Healy’s hands
are washed, his toilet is made.’ This was no
sooner said than the lively curate entered the room,
and, on the chaffing remark being reported to him ,
Dr. Lee sought to disclaim its paternity. ‘Oh,
don’t deny it; ’tis the best thing you ever said,’
remarked Father Healy.

Digitized by LjOOQle

A CASE OF 1 SHOE ASIDE 1 63

Attending sick-calls is not an enjoyable mission ;
but Healy was always cheerful when the summons
came. A messenger announced that a man near
Bray had been shot. 4 When fiddling with a gun,’
he added, ‘ it went off, grazin’ his toes and carryin’
away his shoe.* 4 Why, this is a case of shoe-
aside’ (suicide), said Healy , mimicking the voice of
the envoy. That these trifles should have been
treasured shows, at least, the high estimation in
which the young curate was held even then as
a wit.

I have alluded to the cheerful alacrity with which
he attended sick-calls; there was a summons of
another sort that severely tried him. Tom Byrne
was a drunken fellow, given to beating his wife.
One tempestuous winter’s evening, just as Healy
had sat down, as he hoped until bedtime, with a
cheerful fire blazing before him and a pleasant
book open, his servant entered, imploring him to
come out at once, for ‘ Byrne was massacrieing
his wife.’

The young priest’s temper was easily roused at
this early period of life — especially when the law
of God seemed outraged — and he promptly reached
Byrne’s cottage. Ere he arrived, however, the
neighbours had succeeded in quieting the fellow,
who was now stretched on the bed in a state
of maudlin exhaustion. ‘You low ruffian! you
unmitigated rascal!’ the priest said, with other

Digitized by LjOOQle

64 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

phrases too strong for record. Bvme turned his
face to the wall, and in meek and contrite tones
muttered, ‘ Go away, your reverence ; I’m not in a
fit state to listen to your holy voice.’

Among his early friends were two brothers,
named Fry, Protestants, who lived in two houses
outlying and isolated at Shankhill. Both brothers
married on the same day; and it was remarked
as a coincidence, by Professor Cameron, that their
wives bore children on the same day. Healy was
a constant guest at these Siamese-twin houses,
and the owners were repeatedly entertained by
him.

There was one of the pupils at Loretto, named
Wade, for whom he showed much regard, and
having missed her from the playground, he asked
her, when next they met, the reason. She had
been very ill, she said, and he tendered grim
consolation by assuring her that if any casualty
occurred he would go to her funeral. ‘ If I should
outlive you, I’ll certainly go to yours,’ she replied.
‘ But meanwhile,’ said Healy, 4 you must allow me
to write your epitaph.* She expected to hear some-
thing very laudatory and solemn, and was rather
taken aback when she heard :

1 Here lies poor Anastacia Wade,

The fattest girl that e’er was made.’

This pupil was known to be sensitive if allusion

Digitized by

Google

ANECDOTES

65

were made to her embonpoint . The conversation
occurred in 1861 ; thirty-three years after a gray-
haired matron — the quondam pupil — attended his
obsequies.

A tall young lady named Lynch was introduced
to him. ‘Give you an inch, and you’ll take an
L ’ (ell), was his first comment.

On a beautiful child being proudly shown by its
mother, he said: ‘My dear child, you’ll have a
blue look-out as long as you live.’ The parent’s
face fell, but brightened when reminded that the
child had fine blue eyes.

The lips of a priest are sealed as regards the
confessional ; a penitent is free to tell what passes.
When chaplain to a convent school at Bray, it was
his duty to hear the confessions of the children.
A little penitent, but now a matured matron, states
that, having mimicked Father Healy, she felt
bound to confess the action, but she writhed with
agony in making the effort. At last some words
were dropped that might seem to imply that she
had applied a disrespectful nickname to one of
God’s anointed. ‘ If you mean me, my child, you
are at full liberty to call me any name you like,
from a donkey to an elephant,’ said the ghostly
adviser.

Questioning a young lady who had been at a
remote convent-school, he asked how many nuns
and how many pupils it possessed. In reply

6

Digitized by

Google

66 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

to her statistics, he merely said : * You ought to
be well schooled. That gives a nun and a half to
each girl.’

The poor curate of these days, in his modest
lodging over a confectioner’s shop, showed to all
friends he met

* The honest welcome, frank and free,

That marks the liberal hand.’

Amongst others whom he always brought home,
when he chanced to find him painting from Nature
— perched on a lonely crag, or embosomed in the
warm woods of Fassaroe — was Vincent Duify, then
a young and struggling youth, now a well-known
Academician. Every day dinner was served for
those who dropped in, and one guest whom Duffy
recalls as never absent was Father Charles
Meehan.

Digitized by LjOOQle

[67 ]

CHAPTER V.

Administrator of St. Peter’s, Little Bray — Alzog on Father
Healy’s Chapel — Visit of Cardinal Cullen — ‘Enter; its
Grandeur overwhelms you not ’ — Anecdote — The Duke of
Connaught — General Sir George Cockbum — Anecdotes —
Sir W. Wilde — An Episcopal Vacancy — Mrs. O’Reilly Dease
— ‘Tristram Shandy’ — Lord Fingall — Dame Dease’s Re-
collections — The Gallows at Trim — Matthew O’Reilly
Dease — Father Healy gets him elected M.P. for Louth —
Rev. Samuel Cotton and his Umbrella.

The parish of Kingstown known as Dunleary,
when, early in the century, Father ‘ Bat ’ Sheridan
had been appointed to it, embraced a large number
of hamlets which have since got separate pastors.
In 1867 Father Healy became administrator of one
of them, namely, Little Bray. ‘A previous P.P.
of Dunleary/ said Canon Pope to the present
writer, ‘chose to reside near Little Bray, rather
than the more important place of which he was
“ P.P./* and henceforth he regarded Dunleary as
an outlying district of his extensive parish. In
consequence of some of its people exhibiting false
lights, with the dastardly object of causing wreck-

Digitized by

Google

68 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

age, he declared that never again would he enter
Dunleary Chapel.* Canon Pope does not add — *
which, unhappily, is true — that, this priest dying
intestate, a fine presbytery that he built not far
from Little Bray passed into lay hands, and was
lost to his successors.

Little Bray is separated from Bray proper by
the Dargle River, and while the larger town is
in Wicklow, the first is in the County Dublin.
Healy*s old friends near the city were disposed to
persuade themselves that the change was a step
towards promotion, and brought him geographically
within easier reach. Lewis, describing Little Bray,
notices its ‘2B0 houses, with 1,168 inhabitants.
The houses are, in general, neatly built, and the
town has a cheerful and interesting appearance.*
This feature of attraction was not lessened when
our administrator buoyantly entered on his work.

He found in the old chapel at Little Bray a
small and unpretending structure hidden away
from the public road, and built on the lines fol-
lowed in penal days. The pillars, altar, oak
carvings, and Communion-rails are a legacy from
the old chapel on Lazor Hill, Dublin, afterwards
known as Townsend Street. The latter is noticed
by Thomas Moore in his memoirs, and that it went
by the name of the ‘ Irish Gentleman’s Chapel.’*

* He wrote 4 Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of a
Religion,’ a polemic book of much learning.

Digitized by CjOOQle

VISIT OF CARDINAL CULLEN

69

Alzog, a German, wrote a history of the church,
and as a proof of the advance of Catholicism in
Ireland, he cited the increase of its religious
edifices, and, to the astonishment of those who
knew anything about it, ‘ the Church of St Peter’s
at Little Bray ’ ! The mistake arose from follow-
ing a ‘puff* in ‘Battersby’s Directory,’ and was not
unnatural in a foreigner who had not seen the struc-
tures he professed to enumerate. Alzog having
been translated into English, Healy was subjected
to some chaffing by his brother priests. One day
Cardinal Cullen, in cope and mitre, attended at
Little Bray to administer Confirmation. *1 read
that you have got a grand cathedral here,’ he said,
when Father Healy hurried to receive him at the
gate. “‘Enter; its grandeur overwhelms you
not,”’ was Healy’s happy reply, quoting from
Byron’s description of St. Peter’s at Rome. * Oh,
that’s not the meaning the poet had at all,’ replied
the Cardinal, failing to see the point.

He dined at Bray that day, and Healy was asked
with others to meet him. Before dinner, when
taking a rural walk, his Eminence stopped a boy
to question him on his Catechism, but the fellow
could hardly answer a word. The Cardinal, while
he very accurately described him, looked with a
reproachful glance in the direction of Father
Healy. ‘I know that boy, your Eminence; he’s
from Marlborough Street,’ was the reply. This

Digitized by

Google

70 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

was the parish in which the Cardinal himself
resided.

Some time after a young priest from the diocese
of Kilmore called at St. Peter’s, Little Bray, and
Father Healy took advantage of this circumstance
by asking him to take a part in some Church
function that he and another priest were about
to celebrate in the chapel. The following dialogue
ensued : ‘ Oh, I am not well up in the ceremonies.’
‘ And do you imagine that we know anything about
them ?’ ‘ Oh, I would be sure to go astray.’ ‘ My

dear boy, it would be impossible to go astray in my
chapel.’

Outside Little Bray is a wheelwright’s yard filled
with disabled postchaises and other obsolete modes
of conveyance. The skeleton of an old yellow
wheel — its spokes dislocated — caught the eye of a
visitor to Father Healy as both happened to pass
it. ‘What a story those old wheels could tell of
their wanderings,* remarked the visitor. * They
would say they are un tired,' replied Healy. * It’s
because they are untired they would be outspoken,’
was the concluding remark.

Little Bray of that day was not suggestive of
many new ideas. On the same evening Father
Arthur Doran and Father Molony, of Barndarrig,
dined with him, and the host, probably thinking of
his conversation that morning, said : ‘ I give you
the toast of two spokes in the ecclesiastical wheel,

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT

7i

and if they are not good spokes they are at least
good fellows.’ ‘May they show good metal at
every round,’ chimed in Molony. * And never tire,*
retorted Healy. ‘ But I hope never box,' mildly
interposed a lay guest.

These and other trifles are given merely as a
curiosity that they should have been preserved
when so much that is good has vanished in the
mist of the past.

It was a pleasant surprise to receive a card of
invitation to meet the Duke of Connaught at
Charleville, Bray, the seat of Lord Monck, and
Father Healy kept his Boyal Highness so amused
by quaint sallies that an intimation of willingness
to call upon him was at last vouchsafed. ‘ Where
shall I find you?’ the Prince asked. ‘At Little
Bray, your Royal Highness, where I am as well
known as the pump,’* was the reply.

Its pump was, indeed, better known than its
ancient stone cross and rudely-sculptured Cruci-
fixion, which is hidden away on the road to Old
Connaught. The archaeologist will also find in the
parish of Little Bray several ruined castles, and
the sculptured sacrifice of a ram already alluded to.
A respected Protestant parishioner, General Sir
George Cockburn, had presented a handsome altar-

* The pump some years after ceased to possess the con-
spicuous importance of an earlier day, owing to the introduc-
tion of water by pipes from the river Vartry.

Digitized by

Google

72 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

piece to the chapel at Bray; and the place, on
the whole, had many bright memories to recom-
mend it.

On another day, when a few friends had assembled
for dinner, served in homely fashion at a pleasant
villa residence, suddenly,

4 With looks that quite petrified, entered the maid,’
and informed her mistress that, by an untoward
accident, a pot of bright turtle soup had been
spilled on the kitchen floor. ‘Oh, God be with
the time/ exclaimed Father Healy, ‘when, in the
old-fashioned earthen floor, with plenty of ruts in
it, if such a thing occurred, the soup could be
ladled up again; but with the smooth tiles of
modem use, one can only say, though reluctantly,
“ Flow on, thou shining river.’' ’

The late Sir William Wilde was rather slovenly
in his person. When he offered, his hand to a
distinguished actress still living, he received for
reply, ‘Go and wash it first.’ Judge Barry,

dining with Lord O’Hagan shortly after Wilde
had been knighted, observed, ‘ I left Holy-

head in a gale and came across the dirtiest

night/ ‘It viu8t have been Wilde/ said Father

Healy.

One memorable Saturday dinner at Healy’s
hospitable house is recalled. An eminent Judge
still living, who was present, detailed some of the
wild freaks of his earlier days in Limerick, and

Digitized by LjOOQle

ANECDOTES

73

amongst the anecdotes was one in which he
described the capture of a watchman in his sentry-
box by some military officers; and how he was
flung with his box into the river Shannon, where
the unfortunate watchman was drowned.

‘ Then,’ said Father Healy, ‘ he must have died
with the rattles in his throat/

They were speaking of electrocution. ‘I only
know of one thing more terrible,* said Father
Healy — ‘ elocution.*

A popular physician came on a visit to him, and
Healy lent him a rod to fish in the Dargle River.
At the end of the day he returned, saying, ‘I’ve
killed nothing, unless time.’ 'That is more than
you could say if you were at home,* was the reply.
Meeting Mr. Cummins, a well-known accountant
and amateur operatic singer, in the train, he learned
from him that he was about to give some vocal
recitals that evening. When parting, he said,
'Don’t commit forgery to-night.** This speech
puzzled Mr. Cummins; but it was subsequently
explained that he meant ‘ not to utter any false
notes.’

Father Healy met at dinner one evening a

* A kindred joke stated that Sir Samuel Ferguson, the
gifted Irish poet, began his literary career with a forgery.
Explanation having been indignantly demanded, it appeared

that the title of his best poem is ‘ The Forging of the
Anchor.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

74 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

famous song-writer to whom, on their introduc-
tion on a previous occasion, he had taken an

instant liking. * Good-evening, Mr. ,’ began

Father Healy, cordially extending his hand, but
the name of his English acquaintance deserted
him for the moment. There was scarcely a per-
ceptible hesitation on his part, however, for
instantly he began softly to hum the tune of one
of the composers best-known works. The face of
the composer lighted up with a smile of gratifica-
tion, and Father Healy’s failure to remember his
name was never known.

Mrs. M , the genial wife of a popular Judge

who lived in the neighbourhood, remarked to the
present writer that Father Healy had so often
failed to accept her invitations to dine on Saturday
— a convenient day on which they usually enter-
tained members of the Bar and others — that she
had almost ceased to ask him. The lady was
interested by my explanation that on Saturday
evenings Father Healy was usually to be found
in his confessional, zealously engaged in bringing
sinners to repentance.

On every Sunday he preached a sermon some-
what above the average, but what charmed his
auditory was the finished elocution with which he
gave out the Gospel of the day that formed its text.
Nothing could be more impressively delivered, and
among those who went to Little Bray on Sundays

Digitized by LjOOQle

'NO VACANCY FOR A FOOL f

75

solely to hear it was Mr. James Murphy, the
author of many clever Irish novela

In conversing with a priest from another diocese,
he found that some strong differences of opinion
prevailed amongst its clergy as regarded the claims
of a certain candidate for an episcopal vacancy
then existing. Healy had heard that the friend
whom he greeted had an eye on the mitre himself,
and, for the humour of the thing, Healy urged the
claims of a priest for whom the other was not
likely to have much sympathy. * Sir/ was the
reply — and here he struck the table warmly — ‘ we
have no vacancy for a fool in our diocese !* * Are

you, then, so full V replied Healy. * We have had
a meeting, and I took care to give them my views/
continued the rather choleric priest. ‘And pos-
sibly divided the board on it/ replied Healy,
alluding to his habit of striking the table.

It was the fate of this genial man, who loved
Protestants as warmly as his own flock, to meet
occasional cases of blind bigotry which surprised,
and might have shocked him, but for their fantastic
humour. One day a woman came to complain to
Father Healy that her husband beat her daily,
drank like a fish, and cursed like a trooper. ‘Is
he a Catholic at all ?’ he asked. ‘ It’s too good a
Catholic he is, your reverence: he’d knock the
head off every Protestant in the town if he only
got the chance !’

Digitized by

Google

76 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

During this period it was his good fortune to
have for a parishioner a clever and original woman,
Mrs. Dease, of Ravenswell, who as Miss O’Reilly
of Thomastown had been the heiress to great
wealth. She claimed to have Spanish blood in
her veins, and evinced at times the vivacity of
Andalusia.*

In 1814 she married Dr. Dease, son of William
Dease, described by Stokes as the father of Irish
surgery; but the great operator having lanced a
swelling, which at once sent forth a torrent of
bright arterial blood, ending in the prompt death
of the patient, he retired to his study and died
by his own hand ! His daughter-in-law became the
mother of Matthew O’Reilly Dease, D.L., after-
wards M.P. for Louth. For many years she lived
in her yacht, and claimed to have gained length
of days by * a life on the ocean wave.’ She had
now settled down at Ravenswell, Bray, attended
Father Healy’s church, and admired the tone in
which he expounded the Gospel of the day. She

* Alexander (Count) O’Reilly, of Baltrasna, General in
the Spanish services, Captain-General of Andalusia, Governor
of Cadiz, and Grandee, married Donna Rosa les Casas, and
died in 1794.

4 Was it for this that General Count O’Reilly,

Who took Algiers, declared I used him vilely ?*

is asked in 4 Don Juan.*

‘General Count O’Reilly did not take Algiers,* writes
Byron, 4 but Algiers very nearly took him.*

Digitized by LjOOQle

MRS. a REILLY DBASE

77

had been previously a familiar figure at the Black
Bock Church, attended by her son, whose filial
homage was very conspicuous. When Mass was
over he always left the church by a retrograde
movement, bowing before his mother, who mean-
while would sweep down the aisle in rustling
bombazine.

Her former chaplain had been the once famous
Father Keogh, styled by the London Magazine in
1827 ‘ the Irish Massillon.’ She had many anec-
dotes of his great power, and also of his innocence,
and would tell that, on entering his room, children
were to be found in paroxysms of laughter at the
rich performances of him whose humour ranged
from the wit of Babelais to the grimaces of a
zany.* And this was the man of whom the late
parish priest of Bray, Father Boache, declared he
had heard Mr. Plunkett say, ‘If I had Keogh’s
powers I could shake the Constitution.’ In Father
Healy she found a chaplain after her own heart,
and of him it may be said that he greatly enjoyed
the society of Mrs. Dease. She finally became
very infirm, and could not travel to St. Peter’s,

* ‘How is your father?' a friend asked Father Keogh.
4 Oh, 1 he replied, putting on a rueful face, ‘ I left him working
for death 1* He was a coffin-maker by trade. Father Healy
was interested to hear from Mrs. Dease many new stories of
Keogh, over whose coffin, when at SS. Michael and John’s,
he had mused in the spirit of Hamlet’s soliloquy.

Digitized by

Google

78 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

Little Bray. One of his duties as chaplain was
to read for Mrs. Dease; sometimes it would be a
pious book, at other times a volume of current
literature or an old English classic. On the par-
ticular occasion now in question it was ‘ Tristram
Shandy.* He did full justice to the wonderful
pathos of Sterne, and made it quite a sermon by
the feeling with which he gave out such passages
as, ‘God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.*
At last Father Healy came to an oath, at which
he looked grave, but as he read further all was
forgiven :

‘ The accusing spirit, which flew up to heaven's chancery
with the oath, blushed as he gave it in, and the recording
angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word,
and blotted it out for ever !’

Again he stopped short, this time more abruptly.
‘ What*s the hitch about ?’ said Mrs. Dease, peering
over her spectacles. ‘ It was getting a little broad,
ma’am,* replied the priest. To this remark she
merely muttered: ‘We’re not so narrow our-
selves.’

Mrs. Dease at this time was between eighty and
ninety years of age, and had grown a grizzly beard.
The Bev. Balph R. Merydith, M.A., Protestant
curate of Bray, was almost as intimate at Ravens^
well as Father Healy himself. These priests of
rival Churches, instead of pulling at both ends of
the rope, pulled together, and Mrs. Dease greatly

Digitized by LjOOQle

REV. RALPH MERYDITH , Mu 4 . 79

enjoyed their efforts to make all around her bright.
She would sometimes playfully call Merydith her
Protestant chaplain, and, to the air of ‘ One
Bumper at Parting,* would even sing for him, with
mtchant humour, a rhyme which the nonogenarian
remembered to have heard in her childhood :

‘ “ Where was your Church before Luther
Or Cranmer, that ungodly man ?

With lively Queen Bess and King Harry
Your great Reformation began.” ’

Of late years the old lady’s voice, when engaged in
lyrical effort, was like the sound of a cracked fiddle.
‘ Pm no musician,’ she would say, ‘ but, as you see,
I am beating time.’ Mother Dease and Father
Healy, though glad of the promotion which at last
came to Mr. Merydith, were sorry to lose him, when
in 1870 he entered on new duties as Rector of
Red Cross and afterwards of Carrowdore.

One day Father Healy came into Ravenswell
saying, ‘ There is an old woman at the door, ma’am,
wants some alms.’ ‘What do you call an old
woman?’ replied Mrs. Dease, thinking he would
say one of sixty or seventy summers. ‘ One about
150, ma’am.’ The old lady, charmed at the
prospect of increased longevity, exclaimed, ‘ Leave
it there/ extending her skinny hand and cordially
grasping the priest’s.

On another occasion it was mentioned, by way of
encouragement, that old Parr had lived to 152

Digitized by LjOOQle

8o MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

years ; but Dame Dease replied that she was very
much below par. The widow of an eminent surgeon,
she was glib at some of the jargon of the craft.
Surgeon Eichard Dease died so long previously as
February 21, 1819. When demonstrating to his
pupils on the body of a dead woman, he imbibed
through a slight scratch some fatal virus, to the
effects of which he succumbed. His son O’Reilly
Dease was a posthumous child.

For years wonderfully bright letters passed
between Mrs. Dease and her sparkling chaplain.
These letters are described as like electrical
discharges.

Mrs. Dease was now almost bedridden, but would
be carried down to dinner, which, thanks to the
fusillade between the chaplain and herself, always
proved an interesting meal. It must be confessed,
however, that her conversation was often spiced
with censorious gossip which Father Healy found
it no easy task to keep in check. At an earlier day
she would have admirably filled the character of
Mrs. Candour in the 4 School for Scandal.’ Hang-
ing near her chair was a rope with a large ring at
the end of it, by which the old lady was able to
shift her position or bring the artillery of her eyes
more into range. One day Lord Fingall, accom-
panied by his little son, Lord Killeen, then aged
nine years, came from Meath to see her, and they
were easily persuaded to remain for dinner. The

Digitized by LjOOQle

LORDS FINGALL AND KILLEEN

81

child’s eyes became fixed on the rope and ring, and
he asked Father Healy what the latter was meant
for. ‘ Oh, that’s for old Mrs. Dease to jump through,’
was the reply sotto voce. The boy’s eyes sparkled at
the thought of such glorious fun, and he eagerly
asked, ‘Could you get her to do it now?’ Her
vivacity was so great all the evening that little Lord
Killeen thought she might at any moment perform
the feat ; and when the hour for retiring came it
was sad to see his disappointment.

Whether Mrs. Dease’s rope suggested one of a
more solemn sort, I now forget, but certain it is
the conversation drifted in a ‘ capital ’ direction.
Father Healy told a story of Jemmy O’Brien, the
merciless informer of *98, who, having at last
murdered one John Hoey, was sentenced to death,
to the great joy of the people, but remained so long
on his knees before coming out to the scaffold that
Galvin, the hangman, exclaimed, ‘ Long life to you,
Mr. O’Brien. Hurry up with your prayers.* The
people are getting very impatient outside.’

‘ Oh, my dear, I remember those days well,’ said
Mrs. Dease. 1 So many of my name used to be
hung on the gallows at Trim that it went by the
name of the Widow Reilly.’

* This speech was as absurd as the act of the Hon. Bichard
Power, Baron of the Exchequer, who, in walking to Bingsend
to drown himself, carried an umbrella because the day was
wet. His suicide took place in 1794.

6

Digitized by

Google

82 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

Father Healy was not only chaplain to Mrs.
Dease and her son, but their 4 guide, philosopher
and friend ’ as well. Louth had long been repre-
sented by two Protestants, Chichester Fortescue
and Tristram Kennedy, and no men worked with
more energy in their cause than the Catholic priests
of that county. At the General Election of 1868
Kennedy decided upon retiring, and Healy sug-
gested to Dease, who had a considerable stake in
Louth, that he could not do better than seek its
suffrages. Dease did not share the tact of his
mother, and the old lady, having been consulted,
urged that he should place himself absolutely in
Healy’s hands.

The genial priest is now found in the new role of
a diplomat. He had to try his hand as the
puller of wires which would set important agencies
in motion. He had been intimate from their
college days with the Kev. Archdeacon Tierney,
P.P., Y.G., Drogheda. They were both clever men
and had tastes in common, especially in a keen
appreciation of the subtleties of humour. Tierney
was a man of weight in the archdiocese of Armagh,
and had received eleven votes at the election for
Primate. As Vicar-General he could influence, and,
indeed, control, a large number of priests, who in
turn could bring to the hustings the flower of their
respective flocks.

O’Reilly Dease possessed land in Tierney’s parish.

Digitized by LjOOQle

A DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATION

83

Though a leading Catholic, he was so far peculiar
that he failed to recognise as a precept of his
Church the obligation to contribute to the support
of its pastors. A large arrear of dues remained
unpaid to the Archdeacon, and Tierney had long
come to regard the debt as a bad one, especially as
such claims were not recoverable at civil law.
Healy sought to interest his old friend in Dease’s
candidature by undertaking that all arrears should
be paid. He sought successfully to convince the
Archdeacon that Dease would prove an honest
representative. Tierney’s influence was at once
exerted in his favour, and the Master of Eavenswell
became the Member for Louth.

Dease’s declarations of gratitude to Healy were
profuse. ‘ My dear Father,’ he lisped, 1 if I lived
to the age of Methuselah I never could repay you.*
Both travelled together from Dundalk to Dublin,
and the new M.P., when taking leave of Healy
at Bray Station, pressed into his hand two
shillings, with a request that he would remember
him in his Mass. How he left all his large
property for the reduction of the National Debt
will appear on a subsequent page.*

A friendship even stronger than that with the

* The Earl of Meath having avowed his intention of
buying a piece of strand adjoining Ravens well, Mrs. Dease
bid against him, and secured for .£7,000 what eventually
brought not quite £2,000.

Digitized by

Google

84 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Rev. Ralph Merydith was formed at this time
between Father Healy and another Anglican
clergyman, the Rev. Edward William Burton, A.B.,
Canon of Christchurch Cathedral, and Incumbent
of Rathmichael, near Little Bray. He was a
broad-minded man, the first cousin and brother-
in-law of Frank Fitzgerald, Baron of the Exchequer.
Burton became so much attached to Healy and his
curate that when one of them fell ill the good
parson had him prayed for in his church.

But it was now Healy’s lot to meet a cleric
whose bitterness sadly contrasted with the cordial
natures of other fellow-labourers in the vineyard.

It has been said that there is nothing outside
religion and politics which causes such frequent
friction as the umbrella. But it becomes specially
ticklish when dripping with polemics like the one
about to be described. The Rev. Samuel Cotton —
famous for his orphanage at Carogh, and familiarly
known as ‘Gun-cotton,* from the explosives he
loved to fulminate against Popery — was staying at
Bray in the sixties. He wrote to Father Healy,
saying that he had lost a green silk umbrella, that
it was not the first one he had lost, and he would
recommend the pastor to impress on his flock, from
the altar, the commandment, ‘ Thou shalt not steal.'*

* Mr. Cotton must have had in his mind an old story of
Transatlantic origin , descriptive of a gentleman who, having
attended chapel, suddenly discovered, when preparing to go

Digitized by LjOOQle

MR. COTTON AND HIS UMBRELLA 85

Father Healy’s temper was naturally quick, but all
who knew him can testify that, frequent provocation
notwithstanding, he had disciplined it into admirable
subjection. This was one of the very few occasions
on which he made a cutting retort ; but it occurred
at a time when his blood was hotter than in the old
man which most of his surviving friends remember
him. To Mr. Cotton’s note he replied :

* Buy a cotton umbrella, and if the quality is no
better than the Cotton of Carogh, you need not fear
that anyone will touch it.*

A somewhat different version of this reply has
been sometimes told — also that he used a postcard ;
but the Rev. James Conolly, to whom he handed
the letter for perusal, tells me that the words were
as above. Healy, in his estimate of the man,
showed his usual perception. This was twenty
years before Primate Knox’s public denunciation
of Mr. Cotton, and his conviction by a Belfast jury
of malpractices, which two severe terms of imprison-
ment have surely expiated.

About the time of the last-named incidents, which

home, that his umbrella had been taken. He reported it
to the clergyman, who on the following Sunday morning
addressed the congregation. He told them an umbrella had
been stolen, and that the thief was known. He suggested
that the person who took the umbrella should drop it over
his garden wall the same evening. Next morning he was
astonished at finding fifteen umbrellas in his garden.

Digitized by

Google

86 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

are reluctantly referred to, Father Healy was sur-
prised to find his curt letter of twenty years before
returned by Mr. Cotton. Probably when arranging
old papers it came to the front.

Mr. Cotton at the time of his missive to Father
Healy kept his horse in the stable of John Bruce,
a Methodist car-driver of Bray. ‘ It’s the master’s
eye which feeds the horse/ is an old saying in
Ireland. One day, when Mr. Cotton was giving
oats to the animal, Bruce’s horse made a bite at
Cotton, and the latter brought an action against
Bruce. In vain some michant friend sought to
console Cotton by reminding him, in the words of
David, that ‘ all flesh is grass.’ Able counsel were
retained, but under a threat, and, no doubt, an
unworthy threat, to charge Mr. Cotton with tam-
pering with Bruce’s oats, the prosecution was
abandoned.

It was about this time that Father Healy’s curate
received a letter from Mr. Cotton complaining of
dishonesty on the part of a Catholic servant, and
asking if that was the doctrine taught in Little
Bray. The curate prepared an answer, which he
personally delivered. The door was opened by Mr.
Cotton, who asked him to kneel with him there and
then and adore their common Creator. He went
on to refer to a certain page and tome of Schleier-
macher, which brought home to Borne, he said, the
practice of idolatry. Its alleged spiritual intolerance

Digitized by CjOOQle

MR. COTTON'S POLEMICS

37

was then dealt with, until the clergyman’s wife,
with great common-sense, interposed, saying that
it would be better if Mr. Cotton gave attention
solely to his own flock.

But enough of polemics. During the great snow
of 1865, when local employment was suspended,
Mrs. Dease asked Father Healy to be the almoner
of her bounty. Two hundred pounds, which he
dispensed with much common-sense, had been
placed in his hands. Men, who otherwise might
have turned their course in the direction of the
Fenian camp, were hired in gangs; and for two
shillings a day cleared the roads, and hurled vast
blocks of snow into the river. He was a vigilant
overseer, who at once scented the drone and sent
him adrift.

Digitized by

Google

[ 88 ]

CHAPTER VI.

Anecdotes — ‘ The Heart that has truly loved never forgets *
— ‘ The Devil’s Glen * — Lord Mayor Durdin— ‘ A Jackass in
a Basket of Greens * — The Dargle — Mr. Justice Crampton
— A Dinner at St. Valerie — Canon Forde, V.G. — Death
of Father Healy’s Sister, a Nun — A Dame in Bearded
Majesty — Parish Priest of Little Bray — A Death at the
Altar — A Bishop in Pcurtibus — Anecdotes — Father Healy’s
Theological Knowledge — Amusing Incident at Trinity
College.

Meanwhile Healy’s brother priests in hours of
relaxation snatched from toil were cheered by his
quaint sallies. At a clerical gathering at Bally-
brack two or three happened to be discussing
verse 14 in Psalm cxiii. :

‘ Aures habent, et non audient ;

Nares habent, et non odorabunt.’

[‘ They have ears, and they do not hear ; they have noses,
and they will not smell.’]

Two priests with largely-developed nasal organs
advanced from the end of the room inquiring what
their confreres had been saying.

4 That you have noses, and you do not hear,’

Digitized by

Google

‘ CHILDE HAROLD *

89

replied Healy, at once raising a hearty laugh,
especially at the expense of one — now a Canon —
whose hooked nose was being protruded into the
coterie.

The host on that occasion was Father John
Harold, a man of colossal frame, who, having
sung the song * Oh, would I were a boy again !’ was
greeted with the remark, ‘In other words, you’d
like to be “ Childe Harold.” ’ This sobriquet was
afterwards applied to a smaller brother of the
gigantic priest, also in orders, so as to guard against
confusion in alluding to them. The smaller brother,
having declined, as was said, a colonial see, was
urged to accept the burden as ‘ Harold’s Cross.’*

The Rev. P. Fagan, C.C., Blackrock, who early
in his missionary career had broken his leg and
wore a cork one, happening to meet Fathers
Healy and Meehan at a time when an important
parish was vacant, was asked by the latter if he
were in the running for it. ‘ What a strange
question to put to a man with one leg !’ interposed
Healy.

Mrs. V , a lady of good social status, whose

first husband was a military officer, married secondly
a retired postman. It was said that she sometimes
made him put on the uniform of her deceased

* Harold’s Cross is a well-known suburb of Dublin, where
the former Archbishop of that see kept a holy court for the
trial of ecclesiastical offences.

Digitized by LjOOQle

90 MEMORIES OF FA THER JAMES MEALY

lord, which led Healy to quote, as applicable,
Moore’s lines :

‘ The heart that has truly lov’d never forgets,

But as truly loves on to the close ’ (clothes).*

Canon Pope replied that it was only natural that
she should regard the vested interests of her late
husband, which so amused Healy that he declared
it was better than the joke it capped. He was
most tolerant of Pope’s jokes, which encouraged
the good Canon to prepare more whenever he
expected to meet Healy. The smell of the mid-
night oil, of which they were redolent, mingled not
always well with the aroma of dinner. Healy, on
entering an anteroom where several priests had
assembled, was grasped by both hands by Pope,
who asked, * Why is my hand like the Land Act ? —
Because it embraces Healy’s clause .’

One midsummer Canon Pope and other priests,
who had got some holidays to spend, called on
Healy by appointment, and took him to visit ‘ The
Devil’s Glen.’ In going through its proverbially
picturesque scenery, his spirits rose to a pitch of

* The two succeeding lines are :

‘ As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,

The same look which she turn’d when he rose.’

The adulatory circle in which Healy revolved got the
sobriquet of ‘Heliotropes.* This flower, according to an
eminent writer, Dioscorides, and popular belief, manifested
the peculiarity noticed by Moore.

Digitized by LjOOQle

‘ MY BISHOPS POLITICS •

91

ecstasy ; but in mounting to a spot from which a
specially fine vista was obtainable, he slipped into a
bog-hole, and he returned to his friends daubed
with mud. 4 What has caused this ?’ asked Pope.
4 The devil, envying my happy state,’ he said,
quoting the well-known reply in the fifth lesson of
the Catechism, when describing Adam’s fall in the
Garden of Eden.

It was his tone and twinkle rather than the
actual words of his replies which proved irresist-
ibly provocative of amusement to persons who pos-
sessed a true sense of humour. One evening a
Clonfert priest met Father Healy at a remote
watering-place, and entered on the then vexed
question of Tenant Eight, putting a number of
questions to Healy, who with the gravest face made
absurdly stupid answers. 4 What are your politics ?’
he at last asked. 4 I’m of my Bishop’s politics,’
pensively replied Healy, puffing away at a cigar.
4 And what are your Bishop’s politics ?’ 4 1 don’t

know.’* Archbishop Cullen was the reigning
Ordinary at this time.

A Jesuit was telling an incident in the life of the
founder of his Order, St. Ignatius, who, when
travelling to Rome, fell in with a party of tourists,

* Sir Gavan Duffy remarks, 4 as a psychological fact worthy
of note, that whenever a Bishop adopted a policy he was sure
to be supported by the opinion of the general body of his
clergy * ( 4 Four Years of Irish History,’ p. 823).

Digitized by LjOOQle

92 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

by whom he was nicknamed Romulus. Subse-
quently, at finding him saying Mass in St. Agatha’s,
one of the party in surprise exclaimed, ‘ 0 Romulus !’

‘ And did he reply 0 Remus ?’ was the ready com-
ment. ‘Oremus,’ or, ‘Let us pray,’ is a phrase
familiar in the Mass.

One evening, when wit had flashed with unusual
blaze and continuance, Father Trevor, senior curate
of Bray, who so far had contented himself with
being a listener, exclaimed, when a lull at last came :

‘ I have a joke worth the whole of them : “ Why is
a chimney like a swallow? — Because it has a
crooked Jlew ,” ’ — a joke which for its utter barbarity
has been honoured by remembrance when so much
that was really brilliant has faded from memory.
Lamb once said that the most outrageous pun often
made people laugh more than at a good one, and
possibly this was Trevor’s aim.

Healy was the valued guest of all circles and
spheres. It was about this time that Mr. Durdin, a
respectable Protestant solicitor of Conservative
views, became Lord Mayor of Dublin. His appoint-
ment was not popular with the bulk of the Corpora-
tion, who had different politics, and one bitterly
remarked, ‘ His very horses and harness look
hungry.* A well-known corn-factor stood up for
the Lord Mayor and sought to deny the innuendo.
Alderman Redmond said, 4 Durdin would eat a
jackass in a basket of greens.’ ‘ I saw him dining

Digitized by

Google

57: VALERIE

93

at the Imperial Hotel yesterday/ he proceeded,

‘ but he didn’t seem to notice me/ * I dare say
that all his attention was directed to the greens/
was Healy’s happy retort.*

Near the Dargle, and close to the Castle of
Fassaro, which once guarded this peep into the
mountain region beyond, is a charming spot, St.
Valerie, formerly the home of Cooper Walker, t who
in his ‘ Historical Memoirs on Italian Tragedy ’
gives a glimpse of his sequestered retreat. But
Walker, who died in 1810, is long since forgotten,
and the man whose name is mostly associated with
St. Valerie is Mr. Justice Crampton,! one of the
judges who tried and sentenced O’Connell in 1844,
and Father Petcherine in 1858. Crampton became
a prominent leader of the Temperance society, and

* Bandmasters were not without humour in those days.
When the toast of Dur din’s health was proposed, the band
struck up the air of ‘ Dame Durden,’ and when that of Sir
John Barrington, who held the tenets of Fox and Penn, was
drunk, ‘ Merrily Kiss the Quaker’s Wife.’

f Some fine lines were addressed to W. Cooper Walker, at
St. Valerie, by Thomas Dermody, whose life and works
appeared in 1807.

J See Burke’s ‘Anecdotes of the Connaught Circuit,’
pp. BOO, 801, where Crampton is described as giving orders
that his richly-stored cellar was to be destroyed. His butler
said : ‘ There’s the plugs drawn out of the hogshead, and the
blessed dhrink running all about the country. Sure, if he
was a Judge twenty times over he must have a hog’s head on
his shoulders that would do the like of that.’

Digitized by

Google

94 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

after his death in 1868 St. Valerie, having been let
furnished, became the scene of many hospitable
entertainments. One dinner is specially recalled.
Dr., now Sir John, Banks, observing a portrait of
the deceased Judge as it hung in the dining-room,
said, ‘If he could look down on us now, how
shocked he would be !’ ‘ Take care it’s not up

he’d have to look,’ responded Healy.*

There were few spots about Bray of which James
Healy was fonder than the picturesque scenery
round St. Valerie, and under the iEgis of St.
Valerius the good Padre would wend his way. It
was pleasingly said of it by its former occupant,
Walker : ‘ In a verdant valley, watered by a
winding river, at the foot of a range of lofty
mountains, I summoned round me the swans of
the Po and of the Arno, and whilst I listened
to their mellifluous strains, Time passed with an
inaudible step ; but though I no longer sighed
after the society which I had abandoned, I felt
an ardent desire to increase its stock of harmless
pleasures.*

It was not Healy’s lot to become Padre then,
or Walker would have found his ‘ harmless
pleasures * much enhanced by that personality.

* I have heard one person claim this mot for Judge Keogh ;
but on again referring to my original informant, Sir John
Banks (February, 1895), he assures me that he was present
when Healy said it.

Digitized by

Google

BALAAM'S ASS

95

Corresponding to the navicular or scaphoid bone
of the wrist is a small bone in the fetlock of the
horse prone to a disease known as ‘ the navicular/
One day, while travelling by train, a magistrate for
the borough of Bray told Father Healy and another
friend that his horse had got the vernacular.
4 Then yours is the first beast that succeeded since
Balaam’s ass,’ was the reply.

It was an on-dit at this time that Mr., afterwards
Chief -Justice, Whiteside, having heard Father
Healy say grace at the table of a Protestant Lord
Chancellor, remarked, not inaudibly — 4 If William
the Third could hear a Roman Catholic priest
repeat that prayer in the house of the Keeper of
the Great Seal, it would almost make our glorious
deliverer turn in his grave.*

Healy met Whiteside on some festive occasions
afterwards, especially at the table of Judge Lawson,
at Crinkle, near Bray, and the Chief Justice came
to regard with more toleration the Padre’s presence
and prayers.

Father Healy was said to resemble in appearance
the Protestant Dean of Dromore. On the occasion
of a banquet in Trinity College, the Provost,
catching Father Healy’s eye, asked him to give
grace. This he did, whereupon one of the dons
whispered, 4 He mistakes you for the Dean of
Dromore.* Next day, the Padre having met an
Anglican divine, the subject of the Provost’s dinner

Digitized by LjOOQle

96 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

came on the tapis . ‘ I never met so ignorant a lot,’

said Healy. ‘ Would you believe it, not one of them
knew how to bless himself !*

A large number of cards had been issued for a
grand ceremonial at Loretto Convent. This in-
cluded the distribution of prizes to successful
students of its higher school. But the proceedings
did not begin until long after the appointed hour,
owing to the tardy arrival of the Vicar-General,
Canon Forde, a man of large frame and imposing
presence, then in the zenith of his importance.
Healy remarked that the distinguished visitor
found on arrival ‘ yawning as well as awning,’ and
exclaimed to a friend, 1 The greater the Canon the
greater the bore.’ At last the distribution of
premiums began. A young lady named Phibbs
was called. 1 Do you give a premium for Jibs here ?’
asked Father Healy.

He had a fondness for conventual institutions,
because as a chaplain to two of them he knew
their value and charm, and partly because he
had himself a loved sister who had taken the
veil. She visited the sick and consoled the dying,
but the cruel malady of phthisis struck down
the Sister of Mercy. Her Superioress at the
convent, Athy, Mrs. Mary Tereasa Maher, urged
change of air to the branch convent at Bathdrum,
which was embosomed in exquisite scenery. When
en route to this place, she broke the journey by

Digitized by CjOOQle

HIS DYING SISTER

97

visiting her brother James at Bray. After a
touching interview, he and Father Patterson accom-
panied her back to the railway-station. The nun
was herself sanguine of recovery, but Father James
had a presentiment that never in this world was
he destined to see her again. Glad in black crape,
she, who had once been like sunshine, entered the
carriage which at any moment might be her hearse,
while her brother, torn by grief, gazed through
blinding tears as the train disappeared.

It was about this time that Miss Saurin, the nun
who brought a sensational action in England against
Mrs. Star, her Superioress, for alleged severity,
was mentioned. Father Healy said, ‘I won’t go
so far as to say “Beautiful Star in Heaven so
bright !”* but there is something to be said in her
defence; 1 and he then proceeded to offer it with
the gravity which no man could more becomingly
assume when the occasion demanded it.

The role discharged by Father Healy as adminis-
trator of Little Bray gave him no more security
against disturbance than would be possessed by
any ordinary curate. He was a man of irreproach-
able private life, and everybody knew it. Owing,
however, to certain caprices and influences, his
tenure could not be regarded as quite certain.
Mrs. Dease was anxious that Cardinal Cullen
should give him the status of a ‘ P.P.,’ but the
* A well-known lyric introduced by the Christy Minstrels.

7

Digitized by LjOOQle

98 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

witty cleric and favoured child of society was not
quite the type which the ascetic Paul Cullen
regarded as the pink of priestly perfection. His
Grace figured in many amusing but harmless
stories told by Healy, and no doubt some of them
had reached his ears. Moreover, the diocese was
ruled to a large extent by Canon Forde, a solemn
Churchman of strongly Ultramontane views, who,
like Dr. Cullen, had made his studies in Borne. In
Dublin he did what heretofore had never been
attempted by any priest under full episcopal rank
— he moved about curates like pieces of chess.
Indeed, one man of high attainments and of stain-
less fame, a close friend of Healy’s, was dislodged
by Dr. Forde from a comfortable berth and sent to
drudge for years as chaplain in a graveyard.

Forde knew James Healy very slightly, and what
little he knew of him was not wholly to his taste,
though eventually his opinion became much more
favourable. We have seen the boldness with which
Healy joked about him, and fears were felt that
this persiflage might come round. One fussy
friend thought it possible that the feasted priest
of Bray might find himself suddenly sent to the
desolation of Black Ditches,* and — like Father
Green, a man of mark, who died prematurely —
driven to seek consolation in the thought, * The
farther from Jove, the farther from his lightning.’
* Generally regarded as the Siberia of the diocese.

Digitized by CjOOQle

CARDINAL CULLEN

99

Another incident — reluctantly noticed here —
occurred at this time. A Catholic Alderman,
afterwards knighted, lived near Bray, and, as one
of Father Healy’s flock, attended St. Peter’s. The
priest was not easily disconcerted ; but he certainly
did not like to see, whenever he preached, this
Alderman reading a book instead of listening to the
sermon. On a repetition of the disconcerting act,
Healy suddenly paused in his discourse, and allowed
himself to be betrayed into a hasty expression of
disapproval. The Alderman at once drew up a
formal complaint to Archbishop Cullen, who seem-
ingly was not sorry to have an opportunity of
visiting the administrator with a snub. Father
Healy, though at first much annoyed by the
business, soon thought no more of it; but his
friends did, and on the knight becoming a candidate
for a well-known Dublin club, his exclusion is said
to have been largely due to this incident.

His known intimacy with Judge Keogh, too,
who, though nominally a Catholic, would allude to
Catholic questions with startling freedom, no doubt
operated against Healy’s prospects. It was not
easy to overcome so many adverse influences, but
woman’s wit is proverbial, and Mrs. Dease one day
tried her power on * Paul.* Possessing wealth and
important connections, she posed as a Catholic
dame of influence; and though the Cardinal is
said to have told another differently situated that

Digitized by

Google

ioo MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

she unsexed herself by meddling in ecclesiastical
affairs, he listened with patience to Mrs. Dease.
She was a woman of few words, came to the point
at once, and in her letters never used a postscript.
Shortly before her death she sent for Cardinal
Cullen, who duly presented himself. He had never
previously seen the lady, and when her face, ‘ in
bearded majesty,* opened full on the visitor, he
seems to have been impressed to an extent not
very usual with him. * My lord Cardinal,* said Mrs.
Dease, ‘ I was born and baptized in a parish where
there was a parish priest ; I was married in a place
where there was a parish priest, and I don’t wish
to be prepared for death by a journeyman priest’
Cardinal Cullen rubbed his chin and promised to
consider her suggestion. Meanwhile the Eev. Edward
MacCabe, afterwards Cardinal, but who at this
time was parish priest of Kingstown and a Vicar-
General of the diocese, said, when visiting Little
Bray, that he was half tempted to exchange parishes
with Healy. ‘ With all my heart,* was the reply ;
* but it must be on condition that I succeed to your
vicarial powers.’ Dr. MacCabe rarely smiled, but
he did so on this occasion, and it is not likely to
have proved an obstacle to Mrs. Dease’s efforts.

The appointment having been announced in due
time, an old friend congratulated him on his pro-
motion as ‘ P.P.* * Oh,’ he replied, * two very small
p’s.’ * One really large P, and one very small one,’

Digitized by

Google

DAN GRIOTT

IOI

said the friend. To another effusive congratula-
tor he remarked that ‘P.P. of Tina help would
perhaps have been a more appropriate appointment.
The name, too, would have a ring in it suggestively
ancestral.* In point of fact, the emoluments of
Little Bray were in proportion to its name, and,
quoting from a well-known phrase in poor law
jargon, Healy said, * Were it not for the out-door
relief I receive, I*d find it hard to live.*

Some friends, wishing to make a presentation to
him, having heard of a valuable watch that had
been made for Hudson, the Railway King, before
his fall, secured the article ere it left the maker’s
hands, and formally invested with it the new P.P.
An inscription records, ‘ Presented to the Rev. James
Healy by a few friends, April, 1869,’ He told Mrs.
Charles Martin that he meant to leave her this
watch, but she hardly thought he was quite serious
until after his death an official letter came to notify
the fact.

Dan Griott, a barrister in goggles, a great friend
of Healy’s, expressed himself as very anxious that
the P.P. of Little Bray should have a curate, and
when at last this appointment was made, he went
out to Bray to satisfy himself of its truth.

‘ Father James, have you really got a curate ?’ he
asked.

‘Yes.*

* And where do you keep him ?*

Digitized by

Google

102 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

< I keep him where all curates ought to be kept —
at a distance.* **

In taking this view and following this course,
Father Healy had high ecclesiastical authority.
Curates usually do live with the parish priest, but
the system does not always work well. There are
‘ incompatibilities of disposition ’ in sacerdotal as
well as in other walks of life. An architect having
brought Cardinal Cullen to see a new presbytery he
was building for a priest and his curates, Paul
said, ‘ By dividing them you will unite them.’

Healy’s first curate was Patrick Kirwan, D.D.,
son of the City Coroner, and this priest’s sudden
death gave Healy a shock of which he was not the
better for some time. On the last day of May,
1868, Kirwan had just preached in connection
with the usual devotions for that month, and was
about to give Benediction, when he sank at the
altar and breathed his last. Kirwan was a young
man, and had made a distinguished ecclesiastical
course. His last whisper is said to have been a
prayer offering to God the sacrifice of his life.

During the contest between Father O’Keefe and

* The portrait of the barrister in Father Meehan’s book,

‘ The O’Tooles,’ is probably from sittings by Dan Griott.
Father Healy is also introduced in this book. Dan was
famed for his mellifluous brogue, his bitter comments, and
his classic lore. Hexameters — mouthed with the broadest
Munster accent — rolled from his voluptuously- formed lips.

Digitized by LjOOQle

A BISHOP IN PARTIBUS

103

his ordinary, the Bishop of Ossory, Cardinal Cullen,
as Apostolic Delegate, was obliged to interfere.
Father Healy at a dinner-party spoke in apprecia-
tive terms of the Cardinal. ‘ It’s the first time I
ever heard you praise Paul,* a friend said. ‘You
are now a P.P. and cannot go higher/ ‘ I could
be suspended,' was the reply.

There was a curve round Bray Head, on the
Dublin and Wicklow Railway, which went by the
name of Brunei’s folly.* One day about the time
that I have now reached, the train partially ran off
the line at this point, but happily without serious
results. The wildest reports of disaster, however,
promptly spread, and horror was excited, especially
when it transpired that Bishop Whelan, Vicar
Apostolic of Bombay, was in one of the carriages.
The late Rev. Michael Barry, t afterwards P.P. of
Saggard, from whom I heard the details, was spend-
ing the day with Father Healy, when news of the
accident reached Little Bray. Both hurried off to
the railway-station, where the train after much
delay at last arrived. No one seemed to have been
hurt, and joy shone on every face. Father Healy,
in helping the Bishop to alight, said, ‘ Your lord-
ship was very near being a Bishop in partibns.'

* Brunei's mistake was to hug the coast-line too closely,
which a subsequent engineer, Mr. Challoner Smith, sought
to correct by tunnelling through parts of the Head.

t Barry died September 9, 1884.

Digitized by

Google

104 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

The Bishop replied : ‘ I have escaped without
even a rib broken in my umbrella.’

The phrase a * Bishop in partibus ’ is familiar to
priests, but is not necessarily so to laics, though
Thomas Ingoldsby knew something of it when he
wrote :

* Masters in artibus,

Bishops in partibus.’

Perhaps it may be well to explain that a Bishop in
partibus is one consecrated to a see which formerly
existed, but which, mainly by the devastations of
Mohammedanism, has been lost to Christendom.
Thus, the title Bishop of Canea is held by the
present accomplished Pastor of Bray. The title
Bishop of Emmaus is held by Dr. Patterson, now
Coadjutor Bishop in London. The latter got into
an omnibus one day, and a gentleman leaned
forward and said : * My lord, I perceive you are a
Bishop ; may I ask of what diocese ?’ At once,
with a ready smile, the Bishop of Emmaus replied :

‘ At present I am a bishop in omnibus .’

Father Healy’s joke about the Bishop in partibus
recalled to the mind of one of his friends the upset
of Wilson, the vocalist, from his trap, when a
newspaper, after recording the accident, added that
he appeared the following evening in three pieces .

One story led to another, until the late Mr. D ,

his parishioner, describing the breakdown of his
own carriage, and how his wife had been ‘ spilled

Digitized by LjOOQle

TWO BREAKDOWNS

105

about ’ the road, said : * My position was most
distressing — what was I to do ?’ * Lick her up and

compliment her on her neat turn-out/ replied
Father Healy.

There was scant fear of such an accident happen-
ing to the Pastor of Little Bray, for he trusted for
locomotion to what he styled ‘ Shanks’ mare.’
When one day calling on Lady Hodson at Holly-
brook — the former seat of Robin Adair — she said,
as the noise of wheels led her to glance from the
window:

‘ Do you keep a phaeton, Father Healy ?’

* No, but my curate does,’ was the reply. Father
Burke, who for twenty-three years was his attached
coadjutor, often kindly gave him a lift.

The pomposity which somewhat marred Dr.
Forde’s mien on arrival from Rome, and during
his earlier assumption of the vicariate, gradually
gave place to much more natural manners. He had
come to know Healy better, and — mirabile dictu —
invited him to preach a charity sermon for him in
the Church of St. John, Black Rock. Father Healy
usually preached well, but on this occasion, from
some cause or another, he lost the thread of his
discourse, and was obliged to read some portion of
the MS. he had prepared. Perhaps Dr. Forde’s
magnetic eye had been focussed upon the preacher,
who was easily disconcerted in the pulpit.

About this time an Englishman of free opinions,

Digitized by LjOOQle

io6 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

visiting Ireland previous to bringing out a book,
waited on Cardinal Cullen with an introduction
from Cardinal Manning. Dr. Cullen saw that his
visitor, though seemingly anxious to acquire in-
formation, bore about him some marks of ‘the
know nothing ’ school, and felt that the best service
he could render was to ask a few smart priests to
meet him at dinner. Dr. Conroy, afterwards
Bishop of Ardagh, Canon Murphy, Canon O’Neill,
and Father James Healy, were there. More than
one stance was held ; philosophy as well as theology
was talked. Lively arguments arose on various
points, especially as to what was malum per se and
what was malum prohibita (the visitor could see no
difference), and Canon O’Neill, who had known
Healy as a wit only, was much struck by the
acumen he showed, and his knowledge of theological
books.

Dr. Cullen from the day he made Healy a parish
priest was much more friendly with him. He
could not see the subtlety of his wit, but he liked
his good-humoured manner and face broadened
with smiles. The Cardinal, though an ascetic,
could laugh too. One day when travelling by
train he met Healy. A late opulent carpenter
and builder had just been gazetted a J.P. ‘ He
has done much for Catholic charities,’ said his
Eminence, ‘and I’m glad his merits have been
recognised.’

Digitized by AjOOQle

CUTTING FRIENDS

107

‘ But a touch of the jack-plane would do him no
harm/ said Healy.

‘Or a lick of a mallet/ said the Cardinal,
not catching the point, but laughing heartily.

An old parish priest in Wicklow was much of the
same type. Father Healy mentioned to his friends
that this pastor, when conducting the Cardinal
over bis farm, said, pointing to a heifer, ‘ This is
what we call a yearling, but it’s two years old.*
‘That’s a bull,’ said the Cardinal. ‘Oh no, your
Eminence,’ replied the matter-of-fact priest; ‘the
bull is in the paddock.’

Father Healy maintained intimate relations, both
as chaplain and friend, with a gentleman of wealth
who lived at Kilcroney, in the parish of Little
Bray, and had collected a handsome library, but
who, from the activity of his life or other causes,
was understood to be more familiar with the backs
of the books than with their contents. While
showing to Father Healy and other guests some
improvements which he had effected in his house,
he at last led them to the library, and, pointing to
his books, said, ‘ Here, when surrounded by these
best friends, I am truly happy.’ ‘ And, like a true
friend/ replied Healy, ‘ you never cut them.’

The owner of the library may not have known that
in praising it he borrowed a phrase from Dr. Dodd’s
‘ Prison Thoughts ’ : ‘ Books, dear books, are my
comfort ; by morn and night, in adversity or pros-

Digitized by

Google

io8 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

perity, at home or abroad, in health and sickness,
through good or ill report, the same firm friends , the
same rich refreshment and source of consolation/

When partaking of the hospitality of Canon
Rooney, P.P., Clontarf, at this time, Healy ’s musical
talents came as a revelation to the company.
Surprise was generally expressed.

‘That is nothing to what I could do,' replied
Healy, with his usual dash of humour.

‘ Oh, that is an empty boast,’ exclaimed Canon
Murphy sententiously.

‘ Fill me and try,* was the reply.

Father Healy s tact enabled him to harmonize
his conversation with the tone of the society by
which he was surrounded ; but in no one instance
was he led to compromise an iota of principle. An
eminent English educationist was entertained at
dinner in Trinity College, Dublin, by Provost Lloyd
and the Fellows at a time when a good deal of con-
troversy waged on the subject of the Queen’s
Colleges. In the course of the dinner the great
English educationist, who had been placed malice
prepense by Dr. Houghton between Father Healy
and his rival wit, Dr. Nedley, remarked that,
although it was hardly his place to criticise the
action of the Catholic Bishops in condemning the
Queen’s Colleges, yet he could not help thinking
that if they had not actually overstepped their
authority, they had at least strained it.

Digitized by LjOOQle

EDICT AGAINST FAST DANCING

109

* My dear sir/ said Dr. Nedley, * what you say is
too true. Why, it’s only the other day Cardinal
Cullen put out an edict against fast dancing. I
sought his Eminence, and I went down on my
knees to him, and said, “For Heaven’s sake, your
Eminence, revoke the edict against fast dancing”;
but he said he’d see me d d first/

‘ Can it be possible/ exclaimed the traveller, now
addressing himself to Father Healy, 1 that a Bishop
of your Church would be capable of using such
language ?’

‘I’ve known Paul Cullen these forty years/
replied Father Healy, with affected solemnity.
‘Over and over I have listened to the fullest
exposition of his views, but, drunk or sober, I never
heard him use an epithet like that.’

All who knew the grandly ascetic character of
Cardinal Cullen were much amused by this little
episode.

The inseparable companionship of Healy and
Nedley — and both were often asked out together —
negatived the result pictured by Smollett, that one
wit in a company, like a knuckle of ham in soup,
gives flavour, but two are too many.

Damon and Pythias were not more closely
linked. Father James in January, 1893, de-
scribes Nedley as his ‘ oldest friend. It’s now
sixty years since he and I met as boys at school,
and we’ve never been separated since.’ Traces of

Digitized by LjOOQle

no MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

this intimacy will appear in succeeding chapters.
The Doctor, to be near Healy, rented a cottage
adjacent to the parochial house, and called it
Barchester Towers.*

Shortly after the successful visit of Moody and
Sankey to Dublin, it was suggested, at one of
Father Healy’s dinners, that Nedley and Bentham
ought to take up the same role as a ‘ spec/ ‘ Which
will you be — Moody or Sankey?’ said a guest,
addressing Nedley. * He’ll not be Moody , at all
events/ chimed in the Padre.

* Dr. Nedley succeeded Dr. Ireland as surgeon to the
Dublin Metropolitan Police. This force had been compared
to Howth Harbour, which it was impossible to enter without
going under ‘ Ireland’s eye.*

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ III ]

CHAPTER VII.

Mr. Justice Keogh — Lecture on Milton — A Great Bow —
Jessie Keogh — Her Betrothal and Premature Death —
The Galway Judgment — Sensation produced — A Meeting
of Protest by the Parish Priests, headed by Cardinal Cullen
— Father Healy absent— A Movement to buy for him the
House in which he lived — Judge Keogh finds a Picture of
a Coffin under his Dinner-plate — His Death.

There lived at Bushy Park, Bray, all this time, the
Right Honourable William Keogh, D.C.L., a powerful
orator, a polished litterateur , and a noted Judge.
But it was not all at once that Healy came to know
him. Judge Keogh did not fancy priests as a rule ;
and friends hardly liked to allude to the young
Levite, lest the reply should come, * 0 breathe not
his name.’ Keogh knew him by appearance, and
was not entirely prepossessed by it. His registrar,
David Ferguson, and also Captain Keogh, R.M.,
said that they remembered Healy at Castleknock,
but even this fact had no attraction. At last,
however, Keogh and Healy were brought together
under circumstances that allowed of no evasion.

Digitized by

Google

1 12 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

The mysterious law of animal magnetism triumphed,
and both became fast friends. During the years
that I have lightly touched on their intercourse was
frequent. Some sympathetic tastes, including a
love of ‘wit’s electric flame’ and of social enjoy-
ment, were discovered. ‘ He [Keogh] told a story
admirably,’ writes Judge O’Connor Morris, ‘ and
had real humour ; he shone in the society of men
of the world.’

Closer and closer Keogh and Healy drew their
chairs. Their days were bright, their nodes
memorable and starry. But while Keogh was a
bon-vivant first and a wit afterwards, Healy at all
times attached paramount importance to the feast
of reason and the flow of soul.

Keogh’s previous record was not uninteresting.
At the University of Dublin he took classical
honours, and acquired fame by his eloquent speeches
in the Historical Society. When a member of the
Connaught circuit his social qualities made him a
favourite guest with the military mess ; and, desiring
to return the compliment, he gave notice in
February, 1846, that he would move at the next
meeting of the Bar that officers of the army and
navy on duty be eligible for invitation to the Bar
room ; but the feeling of the mentals was against
the regimentals, as he said, and the motion was
not pressed. Judge O’Connor Morris states that
he was not a great lawyer ; but it is at least certain,

Digitized by UjOOQle

THE STERN JUDGE

ii3

as his old colleague, Lord Fitzgerald, testifies, that
‘ his powers of advocacy were deemed so formidable
that at Galway special counsel were brought down
to oppose him. In Handcock versus Delacour his
reply for the plaintiff was so touching as to draw
tears from the Chancellor.’ Sullivan, in ‘New
Ireland,’ deals severely with Keogh’s Parliamentary
career, but party feeling ran high in those days,
and Sullivan had been in the thick of it. Keogh
became Attorney-General under Lord Palmerston’s
regime, and prosecuted Father Petcherine, a Bussian
missioner who burnt a Protestant Bible.

Men now living remember him as the stem judge,
his clean-shaved, rubicund face and puffed cheeks
recalling memories of Lord Norbury. The world
said he wanted heart, but it knew not the man.
Patrick Vincent Fitzpatrick, the famous anecdotist,
had been his constant guest previous to Healy’s
reign. Writing to him on November 25, 1862, in
acknowledgment of a picture which contained por-
traits of O’Connell, Conway, and Fitzpatrick, the
Judge observes : ‘Amongst the reminiscences which
it suggests, there is none more dear to me than the
portrait of one whose conversation has brightened
and charmed some of my happiest hours. Indeed,
my dear Fitzpatrick, I have never left your society
without feeling myself not only a happier, but —
rare reward of triumphant wit — a better man,
for no one that I have ever met can hope to

8

Digitized by AjOOQle

1 14 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

surpass you in the abundance and copiousness of
that genial flow of soul which is life’s sweetest
food. So I have always marked that blended
subordination of the intellect to the heart which
exorcises all uncharitableness, and leaves you not
only the most admired, but the most beloved, of
men.’ The Judge concludes with a prayer that his
friend may be long spared, not only to those
relatives who revere him, but to those associates,
old and young, who would find life less endurable
were he taken from amongst them. Fitzpatrick
disappeared soon afterwards, and Healy came oppor-
tunely to wear the vacant mantle which Keogh had
gloomily flung over the urn of his lost friend.

As we have seen, he did not immediately take to
James Healy. They had often met in the train,
and passed each other on the road. The priest
proved, on closer acquaintance, a revelation to him.
While P. Y. Fitzpatrick trusted to his memory for
his wit, Healy was all spontaneity. The first had
once been caught reading up before dining out;
the priest read little beyond his Office at such
times. Pearls fell from his mouth in such pro-
fusion that they rolled away and were forgotten
as new and sparkling things danced to the sur-
face. Keogh’s companionship with Fitzpatrick had
taught him to love wit unbarbed by malice or
unstained by double entendre ; and Healy found in
Keogh a listener after his own heart. His judicial

Digitized by LjOOQle

A LENGTHENING CHAIN 115

rdle had taught him how to put on gravity. If
some senile offender sprang a joke from * Roderick
Random ’ which Healy failed to see, Keogh at once
took the hint and capped it, not by the black cap,
but by something which everyone enjoyed.

Healy dined at Bushy Park four times a week,
and almost always slept there. If Keogh visited
a foreign land, he ‘ dragged at each remove a
lengthening chain.’ Long before Fitzpatrick died,
his wit had passed into ‘ the sere and yellow leaf,’
which failed to harmonize with the foliage of Bushy
Park. Wherever Keogh wandered, his thoughts
irresistibly recurred to that charming retreat by
the Dargle — its sylvan scenes not the less attractive
from the fact of the rising sun of Healy’s almost
daily presence.

It is notorious that Justice Keogh, though a
Catholic, was not a specially practical one. His
wife and daughter often asked Father Healy to use
his influence with him in the interests of religion,
but, as they thought, he declined. There can be no
doubt, however, that he did take an opportunity,
more than once, to drop a plain hint, which no
man but himself dare do. * Once,’ writes Lord
Ashbourne, ‘a busybody asked him whether the
Judge was a good Catholic, and he got the answer,
“ No better man ; but a child would beat him at
fasting.” ’ His creed was Milton’s :

‘ Earth is the shadow of heaven, and things therein
Each to the other like, more than on earth is thought.*

Digitized by LjOOQle

n6 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Successful afternoon lectures had been delivered
in Dublin by Ruskin, Butt, O’Hagan, and others.
Keogh consented to give one on Milton. In Milton’s
time no book could be printed which had not re-
ceived a license, and his 4 Areopagitica ’ was devoted
to a denunciation of the crime of smothering
thought. This work Keogh mainly took as his
text. It was a spirited and energetic defence of a
free press ; but Keogh, with his usual impulsive-
ness, followed up the subject with a vigorous
assault on the Index Expurgatorius at Rome. All
the priests present at once stood up and stalked
out, leaving behind, as the sole representative of
their cloth, the Rev. James Healy. Cardinal
Cullen, as Apostolic Delegate, was not the man to
observe unmoved the denunciation by a professing
Catholic of any Roman institution. Keogh dealt
his blows and distributed his praise right and left.
He pronounced a panegyric on William III.,
though, as he added, 4 his name had been made
the shibboleth of a faction,’ which in the reprint of
his lecture was toned down into a 4 party.’ A
hurricane of wrath was promptly raised by the
leading organs of Catholic opinion.

4 My dear Healy,’ said Keogh, with a very solemn
face, 4 I’ll do anything you wish — only name it.
I’d turn Turk or Mohammedan if it serves you.’

4 Turn Catholic,’ replied Healy.* Keogh told

* Most people think, but incorrectly, that this was said
after the Galway Judgment in 1872.

Digitized by LjOOQle

A MASONIC FESTIVAL

117

this story to Chief Justice Monahan, who had
joined him in the train at Killiney, and Monahan
repeated it to Archbishop Cullen.

Next day Dr. Cullen, when dining at Carlow
College, said, ‘ That was not a bad answer which
little Father Healy of Bray gave to Judge Keogh,*
and told the story. Dr. Kavanagh, the president
of the College, and formerly the class-fellow of
Healy at Maynooth, was so delighted that he at
once wired the whole thing to Bray, greatly to
the relief of Healy, who was in hourly dread of
receiving a somewhat different missive.

At a time when a grand Masonic festival was
about to be held in Dublin, a report prevailed that
Judge Keogh would take the chair. At a dinner-
party he encouraged this impression, especially
when his pious wife evinced a decided anxiety on
the point ; and on Miss Dillon, whom he sat next,
making a gentle remonstrance, adding that her
uncle, Dr. Brown, Bishop of Elphin, would feel the
matter very much, Keogh replied, * Set your mind
at rest ; I promised Healy not to go.’*

Archbishop Cullen had shortly before issued a
pastoral in which, after citing the Bulls of
Clement XII. and Benedict XIV., he forbade his
flock to attend the Freemasons’ ball — an object of
great attraction with many ladies. About the

* Keogh had represented Athlone, in Dr. Brown’s diocese
of Elphin.

Digitized by

Google

1 18 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

same time there had been held in the Rotunda a
Masonic bazaar, and on the following day another
for a Catholic charity. The Viceroy had admired
Masonic flags which hung round the room on the
first occasion, but missing them at the second visit,
he asked why they had been removed. A lady was
said to have replied, ‘ In consequence of Paul’s
Epistle to the Romans,’ but the mot is more likely
to have come from Healy.

Healy at this period went in for dramatic
mimicry, which was eventually relinquished as un-
dignified, and he soon resigned the role to Father
Tom Burke, who remained to the end a master of
it. Healy never appeared at Keogh’s table without
a graphic story of some rural incident of the day ;
he could rivet attention by his account of a man
trundling a wheelbarrow, or of another who tried,
with a wooden leg, to overtake a train.

Father Healy’s arrival at Bushy Park was always
joyously hailed by old and young. One evening he
described a well-known local musician who usually
lived in another world — in short, he was constantly
drunk — and this man, in a paroxysm of grief which
the priest imitated, had accosted him at Kil-
macanogue.

* “ What’s up ?” I said ; “ is your wife dead ?”

‘ “ Oh, worse nor that, your riverence. My old
fiddle’s in pawn for seven and sixpence, and I see
it in the window every time I pass ; and if I had

Digitized by LjOOQle

'YOU'LL HEAR MUSIC TO-NIGHT P 119

the manes to get it out [here the sobs were re-
newed] I’d be the happiest man alive.” “If I
give you the money, will you promise to forswear
drink ?” He fervently vowed to do so, and, with
shouts of joy, ran off, exclaiming: “You’ll hear
music to-night !” ’

4 And did you hear music ?’ eagerly cried several
young Keoghs, and even grandchildren, who had
gathered round Father Healy.

4 Not a note V

The fiddler, in fact, spent the money other-
wise.

The foregoing is a glimpse of Healy among the
children at Bushy Park, and the Judge, himself the
most hilarious of all, was often the greatest child
amongst them. 4 Mr. Brewster, afterwards Lord
Chancellor, and others, met Healy at Bushy Park/
observes Mr. Justice Murphy, 4 and were charmed
with him. All who met him felt an affection for
him. It was not as a mere wit or a humourist he
was esteemed. There was an indescribable charm
in his conversation, manifesting a pure and gentle
character, that attracted all who met him . . .
and Judge Keogh declared to all his friends that
44 the most charming man in Ireland was a curate
in Bray.” ’

A gentleman of social rank, but of anti-Catholic
proclivities, who lived at Bray, had long regarded
the priest superciliously. One day happening to

Digitized by LjOOQle

120 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

meet Healy arm-in-arm with Keogh, he deigned
to accost the Judge, but avoided all converse
with the priest. It was casually mentioned that
the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn, having rented
for a term the elegant seat of Judge Dobbs at
Ballybrack, the Catholic pastor, Canon Harold,
had left his card upon them. ‘Healy,’ said the
Judge, ‘ you ought to do the same.’ Healy replied :
‘ I should be most happy, but the fact is, the
Duchess and my mother had a coolness !’ The
astonishment depicted on the previously super-
cilious face served Healy and the Judge with food
for laughter that night.

Apropos of Dobbs, Healy used to say that this
Judge, on being called upon by Keogh at Bally-
brack, proceeded to show him through his pic-
turesque retreat, and at last said : ‘ This is the
library. I read in it all day, and no one is the
wiser.’ ‘ I believe you, my boy,’ responded
Keogh.

Father Healy told other things that he heard
from Keogh. He often met in London Bethell,
Lord Westbury, who called him ‘ Ko.’ The latter
once expressed surprise to see this Lord Chancellor
drink stout. * I wished to bring myself down to
the level of the Queen’s Bench,’ was the reply.
Whiteside, when Chief Justice, went to London to
confer with Westbury on some legal points, in-
cluding the Law of Bankruptcy. On Whiteside

Digitized by CjOOQle

THE^ FENIAN TRIALS 12 1

happening to say, * I confess I don’t understand,’
Bethell replied, ‘ I never expected that you should.’*

Priest and Judge continued their intercourse,
hob-nobbing and hard-hitting by turns. One day
they met on the road.

Keogh : ‘ I have a crow to pluck with you.’

Healy : ‘ Let it be a turkey, and I’ll be with you
at half -past six.’

Keogh : ‘ All right ; but we must have the crow,
too.’

Healy : * Then I hope it will be a crow without
caws .’

In persiflage of this kind the Judge, who had
often hard work during the day, relieved his mind.
The prolonged Fenian trials in themselves severely
taxed his strength, and — when we remember the
excitable character of the man — his patience. More
than that, his nerve was subjected to a trying test
— his life had been threatened. O’Donovan Rossa
in withering words denounced him from the dock,
while Lube bore testimony to the fairness of his trial.

One day Father James accompanied the Judge
to Dublin, and walked with him from the railway
terminus to his robing-room at the Four Courts.
The river Liffey, unlike the Lake near the Caspian
which gives off a sweet-smelling perfume, sometimes

* In the recently published * Reminiscences of Judge
O’Connor Morris,’ something similar seems to have been
said to Lord Cranworth.

Digitized by LjOOQle

122 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

exhales the reverse, and reminds one rather of the
Rhine at Cologne as described by Coleridge :

1 Ye nymphs who reign o’er sewers and sinks,

The river Bhine, it is well known,

Doth wash your city of Cologne ;

But tell me, nymphs, what power divine
Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine.*

When crossing Essex Bridge, the effluvia of the
Liffey roused the Judge’s gorge.

‘I wish half a dozen of the Corporation were
dipped in it,’ he exclaimed.

‘ And do you think that would purify it ?’ asked
Healy, well knowing Keogh’s estimate of the Cor-
porate Body.

Healy told Keogh how a zealot had felt privi-
leged to express to him a fear that constant
association with Protestants might impair the keen
edge of his Catholicity. Keogh, apropos of this
criticism, mentioned that he had engaged a servant
of the Anglican Church. ‘Her friends need not
fear,’ he added, ‘ that domestication with me will
injure the edge of her Protestantism.’

Sir John Banks, who often met Keogh at Healy’s
table, tells me that the Judge would sleep at the
priest’s house on such occasions. But not always.
There is a story of the two spending many hours
of a fine moonlight night each going a short way
back with the other when the point of parting came.

Dr. Maunsell, of the Mail, who lived at Delgany,

Digitized by

Google

THE JUDGE WEEPS

12.3

often met Healy in the train, and heard him say
many good things, of which the following is one :
He expressed surprise to Healy that Keogh had
betrayed the superstition of not liking to be one
of thirteen guests at table. 1 Keogh would believe
anything except an article of faith/ was the answer.

As the twig is bent the tree will incline. The
Rev. Dr. Huddart, who kept a famous Protestant
school in Mountjoy Square, and inculcated the
right of private judgment, had been Keogh’s in-
structor in boyhood. Healy continued to give the
Judge an occasional rub, hoping by that friction to
brighten into orthodoxy his neglected sense of duty,
and the Judge became all the fonder of the hand
that playfully smote him. A bad attack of pneu-
monia — during which for many days the priest’s
life was in the balance — prostrated him at this
time ; no one was allowed upstairs, and it is well
known in Bray that the Judge, * waiting for the
turn of the crisis,’ spent one night weeping under
the Padre’s window.

Judge Keogh had a favourite daughter, Jessie.
One day, when Healy was going to dine with
Keogh, he met on the avenue this young lady
riding a donkey, which was led by her cousin.

1 Why is he led ?* asked Healy.

‘ Lest he should run away with me.’

‘ He’d be no ass to run away with you, Jessie.’
This fair girl had been betrothed to a gifted son

Digitized by LjOOQle

124 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

of Sir Robert Kane. When leaving a heated ball-
room she caught cold, and speedily succumbed to
the disease from which Healy rallied. Those who
attended her funeral at Prospect Cemetery on
August 20, 1871, will remember the paroxysm of
grief which shook Judge Keogh in the vault, and
the good priest by his side had a hard task to dis-
charge in trying to bring him away. After this
blow he subsided into a state of inertia, but having
been appointed to try the Galway election petition,
he pulled himself together and more than astonished
the world. ‘ No utterance in our generation pro-
duced such a sensation as this,’ writes Oliver
Burke in his ‘ History of the Connaught Circuit.’
We have seen how strong was Keogh’s admira-
tion of Milton’s style. He would call the adjacent
realm of the Dargle

‘ A verdurous wall of paradise upraised/

When denouncing the interference of priests in
contested elections, he described them as Milton
described devils, 4 thick as leaves in Vallambrosa.’
The delivery of this judgment was at first character-
ized by a fulness of march and cadence almost Mil-
tonic ; it soon came to resemble Grattan’s diatribe
on Flood, and ended in a torrent of overwhelming
invective which spared not Bishop or priest.*

* Grattan’s style, like Keogh’s, showed the influence of
Milton’s mind. Addressing the citizens of Dublin, in 1797,

Digitized by AjOOQle

PRELATES AND PRIESTS PROSECUTED 125

Keogh, himself a Galway man, felt strongly, and
every sentence rolled like a wave of the Atlantic.
The delivery took nine hours. The final result was
that three Bishops and thirty-one priests were re-
ported to Parliament as guilty of undue influence
and intimidation. The seated member was Captain
Nolan ; but he was not identical, as some of the
English journalists thought, with the Captain
Nolan who carried the verbal order for the dis-
astrous cavalry charge at Balaklava. Be this as
it may, Nolan was unhorsed, and Mr. Trench, the
defeated Tory candidate, declared ‘the man for
Galway/ Meanwhile Mr. Gladstone announced
that Prel ates and priests would be proceeded against
by law. As a protest, a meeting of the clergy of
the archdiocese of Dublin was at once summoned
by Cardinal Cullen. Healy was the only P.P. who
failed to attend. Keogh urged him to go, but he
declined to be a party to the denunciation of his
friend. He always held that Keogh was the ablest,
as well as the best, friend he knew. Father
O’Reilly, S.J., a good elocutionist, was deputed to
read aloud the address written by Dr. McCabe,
Bishop of Gadara. After the first sentence, ‘A

he describes the Minister going 'back and back, while the
democratic principle in Europe was getting on and on like a
mist at the heels of the countryman,* etc.

* As evening mist '

Gathers round fast at the labourer’s heel.* — Milton.

Digitized by AjOOQle

126 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

great scandal has come upon us/ he made a long
pause, which Cardinal Cullen broke by audibly
muttering, as he pulled his pectoral cross, ‘ There
can be no doubt about that/ His Eminence,
finding that some thought it too strong and
others not strong enough, deputed a committee
of experienced priests to decide on the point.
Dr. McCabe’s draft was accepted, and his sub-
sequent election as successor to Dr. Cullen is
said to have been due to it. The manifesto went
on to say :

‘A Judge — a professing Catholic — clothed in
the ermine of calm reason and matured wisdom,
is reported to have uttered from the judgment-seat
words of fiercest insult — which have roused up the
sleeping monster of bigotry through the empire —
which have been echoed back to us from England
in menaces of renewed persecution — which have
brought disgrace on the cause of justice, and filled
with joy the friends of discord and disloyalty.’

Everybody knew from the fidelity of Healy’s
friendship that he was not the man to drop Judge
Keogh’s acquaintance because every Bishop and
priest in Ireland united in denouncing him, and
fears were entertained that Cardinal Cullen might
notice and resent Healy’s intimacy with the object
of popular wrath. The awkwardness and peculiarity
of his position were complicated by a sensational
announcement from Mr. A. M. Sullivan that Father

Digitized by LjOOQle

BISHOP DUGGAN

12 7

Conway, whom Judge Keogh had marked for
prosecution, and who was personally known to
Father Healy, had just died of fever, ‘repeating
in his delirium the sentences of contumely that
had broken his heart and sent him murdered to
his grave/ He added that ‘ Father Conway had
gone to appeal from Judge Keogh’s judgment to
the judgment of One who would not deny him
justice, and before whose throne that judgment
would yet be reversed/

It was at this juncture that the Judge was burnt
in effigy near Father Healy’s door.

* Only fancy what they say of me now P said the
Judge one day, quite flushed, as he hurriedly called
on the priest of Little Bray.

‘What?’

‘ Nothing less than that I am about to change my
religion/

‘ Then I hope you’ll become a Catholic first/

The Galway judgment was severely impugned in
Parliament by Mr. Butt ; however, only twenty-
three joined him in the vote of censure.

The Prelate whom Keogh smote with the heaviest
hand was Dr. Duggan, Bishop of Clonfert, several
of whose priests had signalized themselves as
partisans at the polling-booths. From the Bishop’s
description of himself, as I find it in an anecdote
unconnected with the case, it might be gathered
that Keogh did not fly at such high game, after

Digitized by CjOOQle

128 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

all. About this time Healy happened to meet Dr.
Duggan at a clerical dinner-party in Dublin. The
Bishop whispered to a friend that he was quite
electrified by the brilliancy of the talk, in which
Father Healy took the lead.

‘I’m a poor countryman,’ he added, ‘from the
bogs of Connaught, who has come among you
with his brogue.’

‘ You may have brought the brogue,* my lord,’
replied Healy ; ‘ but you left the nails behind.’

In February, 1878, Dr. Duggan, Bishop of Clon-
fert, and two priests, were acquitted, and the
remaining prosecutions were abandoned. This
Bishop had been previously pastor of the parish
in which the popular candidate, Captain Nolan,
lived, and when reminded of auld lang syne, took
him paternally by the hand.

Keogh had been regarded as a man of iron nerve,
and a small incident had occurred revealing an
opposite weakness, which amused Healy not a
little. One of the car-drivers at Bray was known
as Bariniskey, the name of the townland in Wex-
ford from which he had migrated. On their
arrival by train one evening, his car was engaged
by the Judge, Father Healy, and one of Lord
Spencer’s aides-de-camp, who shortly before had
made a hazardous aerial voyage in a balloon.

‘This is a very slow horse of yours,’ said the
* A 4 brogue ’ is a shoe with hobnails.

Digitized by

Google

AN ADVENTUROUS ( A.D.C.*

129

A.D.C., when they had got within a mile of Bushy
Park.

‘Begorra he’s not, sir. He ran away with me
the other day.’

* Could you get him to do it now ?’ said the
A.D.C., seizing the reins.

The Judge’s rubicund face became as white as a
sheet. In a paroxysm of terror he grasped the
arms of the adventurous A.D.C., and eagerly be-
sought him to forbear.

In Chapter IX. will be noticed an action taken
by Philip Callan against O’Reilly Dease. Healy
was served with a summons to appear as a witness
in this case. He had been subpoenaed on a will case
twelve years before, and was put through a rough
cross-examination by John Edward Walsh, after-
wards Master of the Rolls, and known as the author
of ‘ Ireland Sixty Tears Ago.’ Healy felt very sore
after it, though no reflection was made upon him
by the Court, and, pending a repetition of the
threatened ordeal in Callan versus Dease, he
seemed not quite at ease. Rumour had it that
Mr. Justice Keogh might be one of the Judges
before whom the case would be heard.

Butt, it will be remembered, had brought for-
ward in Parliament an abortive motion for Keogh’s
dismissal. The Judge, observing that Healy was
not quite himself on some social occasion previous
to the hearing of the Callan case, sought to rally

9

Digitized by LjOOQle

130 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

him, and at last said, ‘ That ruffian Butt is sure
to ask you if you know me. What reply are you
prepared to give?’ The ready answer came, ‘I
will appeal to the Bench, saying, “My lords, am
I bound to criminate myself ?”* Keogh enjoyed
this reply, and repeated it to Monahan.

One evening Keogh, when arguing with Healy on
the power of the Pope, asked, ‘ Could he make me
a Bishop?* ‘No doubt he could,* replied Healy,

4 both in orders and jurisdiction ; but there would
be a great outcry in the country.’

It was diamond cut diamond between them.
Healy was intimate with Sir Joseph Napier, who
had been Lord Chancellor under Lord Derby, and
at the funeral of his son the priest took a prominent
place. Keogh was told by Healy that, although
deaf, it was in contemplation to make Napier
Judge of Appeal. ‘What!* replied Keogh, ‘a
man who cannot hear the sound of his own bell,
to make him judge of a peal !* He was the brother-
in-law of Whiteside, but in his slow and measured
sentences presented a contrast to the impetuous
Bupert of debate.

Healy’s society of late had been in much increased
requisition, and there was a gradual diminution
in the number of his attendances at Bushy Park.
This place was a considerable detour from the main
road to Dublin, and could not be at all times
conveniently reached. Keogh had now more leisure

Digitized by CjOOQle

THE PERILS OF SOLITUDE 131

for reading. In Rogers’ ‘Recollections,’ which
appeared at this time, the Judge read, with mingled
feelings, the following words of Grattan. Tinna-
hinch closely adjoined Bushy Park :

4 Solitude is bad. I have tried Tinnahinch for twenty years.
It leads to melancholy, to a sort of madness. You think of
your vexations, your age. Society should always be in your
power. An old man cannot enjoy solitude. He has learnt
the secret. He has found out the rogueries of Fortune. Nor
will reading supply the want. I would live in a house full
of society, to which I might escape from myself. I was
called the Spirit of the Dargle. I found out that a man’s
worst companion is himself.’

The Judge thereupon decided to change the venue
from Wicklow to Dublin. He took a house in
Elgin Road, and loved to bring old friends around
him. One of them was Professor Michael Barry,
a good story-teller, whom men sometimes con-
founded with Michael Joseph Barry, another
barrister and cultured wag, which led the latter
to say, ‘ He is feed for my law and fed for my wit/
Michael Joseph Barry had long previously given
large help to Keogh in compiling a volume of
equity reports.

Ere Keogh left Bray he did a good turn for
Father Healy. The latter, from having become
security for a man who proved a defaulter, had
incurred heavy liabilities. It was rumoured that
the terrace in which he lived was about to be sold,
and Judge Keogh and Dr. Nedley agreed that it

Digitized by LjOOQle

132 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

would be a nice thing to purchase and present him
with the house in which he had long dispensed
good cheer. The matter was kept secret, save
from a few, including Lord Monck, Lord O’Hagan,
and Lord Fitz-Gerald, who gave cheques respec-
tively for £50; and in a fortnight £1,175 was
made up by subscriptions, which averaged £20
each. Difficulties, however, retarded the accom-
plishment of the original design, and all would
have been lost in ‘ Wicklow coppers,’ which Healy
gave instructions to buy, but that it afterwards
transpired the broker had neglected to complete
the purchase, and thus his loss did not exceed
£500*

One winter’s evening when Healy was going to
dine with Judge Keogh, shortly after the latter had
removed from Bray to Elgin Road, he was conscious
of footsteps behind, evidently 4 dogging ’ him. This
continued the whole length of Leeson Street, and
Healy, on turning down by the canal so as to reach

* At a meeting of Healy’s friends a discussion arose as to
the form the presentation should take, and it was suggested
by Sir Edward Sullivan that it needed some delicacy in doing
so. The fund was made over by cheque payable to Thomas
Nedney and William Bentham, and one night both repaired
with it to Little Bray. The Padre was out, but jqst as the
clock struck eleven he returned, and had begun pulling off
his stock ere he became alive to the presence of visitors.
On being handed the cheque inscribed ‘ For unpaid Aisthur
[Easter] Dues ,’ one tear of emotion was seen to glisten in
his eye.

Digitized by LjOOQle

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

133

Elgin Boad, suddenly stopped and pointed out to a
policeman the fellow who shadowed him. He
afterwards heard through a member of the force
that he had been mistaken for Judge Keogh, and
had had a narrow escape of immersion in the canal,
or worse.

After this one is not surprised to read that the
train by which the Judge travelled to open the
assizes in Longford contained a detachment of
military, and was preceded by a pilot engine. At
nearly every station, we further learn, the con-
stabulary were drawn up, and on his arrival in
Longford cavalry saw to his protection.

After a hard day’s work he would sit up all
night playing whist. Next morning he would
throw himself into the river, and, braced and
buoyant, go straight to the Bench.

It is well known in Bray that the incident in
Leeson Street was not the only occasion on which
the Padre had been mistaken for Judge Keogh.
At twilight, as one or the other walked up from
the station at Bray, it was not easy to decide
which was which. They were of equal height,
both were stout, with clean-shaven cheeks, and
the Judge was in error made the recipient of many
a faithful salutation meant only for a priest. As
regards his personal appearance, an old Peninsular
hero, General Robinson, declared that Keogh’s face
reminded him much of the first Napoleon.

Digitized by LjOOQle

134 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Keogh had been a bon vivant as well as a bon
raconteur , and at one of his last dinners compared
his stomach to a spoiled child, which, over-indulged
in youth, turned against him in old age.

The priest, on the contrary, brought up on Vin-
centian diet and the frugal fare of Maynooth, bore
about him no such penalties, and was never brighter
and happier than when partaking of the plainest
food. He constantly entertained distinguished
guests, who well knew that they had nothing more
recherche to expect than a plain joint, but they
brought to it ample goUt , and brought away from it
little gout.

Keogh was now beginning to break up, but with
iron will he preserved his brilliancy to the last.
At his own table he never appeared to greater
advantage than at this time. One who knew him
well thus writes :

‘ He had splendid oratorical powers ; his voice
was strong, his vocabulary abundant, his self-
confidence gigantic. Then he had a knack of work-
ing himself up into temporary passion which made
him highly eloquent and extremely unreasonable.
I have seen him shed tears, gnash his teeth, grow
purple with rage, but nothing of that on the judicial
Bench. The courage of the man was extraordinary.
For several years assassination stalked close behind
him. During the days of Fenianism there was
scarcely an hour when his life was really safe. His

Digitized by LjOOQle

LETTER FROM KEOGH

135

vehement attack on the priests in the Galway judg-
ment also exposed him to terrible threats. You
will judge of the extent to which this went when I
tell you that one evening at a large dinner-party he
found the picture of a coffin under his own plate.
His enemies had actually suborned one of the
waiters at his table.’

Shocks like these, though he affected not to mind
them, too fatally told. Popular orators day by
day subjected to a relentless scrutiny all his acts
and words. Every phrase in early speeches and
every phase of his earlier career was raked up. A
whole chapter was devoted by A. M. Sullivan to
stigmatizing anfl abusing him in ‘ New Ireland,’ a
work which for its picturesque style deserved to
become, as it did, the book of the season.

The following is one of the last letters penned by
the Judge, and shows how sensitive he was to shafts :

1 8, Merrion Square East,

1 April 8, 1878.

‘ Your letter reached me here last night, where
I have been staying since I came from circuit, not
allowed out by the doctors yet. The fact is, I did
too much there against advice. I was so anxious
not to give in to the harpies of the newspapers who
were watching me. I had a sharp attack, and
escaped narrowly. I am now on the mend, and
may soon see you. Your well-known writing served
to cheer me. I read, too, with no small interest,

Digitized by LjOOQle

136 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

the letter you enclosed from Michael Joseph Barry.
I don’t quite realize the subject of his book, but
suppose it is in the nature of reminiscences of his
time. No man living can do it better, and all I
can say is I shall be delighted to do all in my
power for book or man. I never read Sullivan’s
book, though I heard he spoke of me. But, ye
gods! that I “tricked Brewster!”* I offered to
resign, and was only prevented by his earnest and
passionate request, and he lived and died my
devoted friend, and, as a proof, all his papers were
handed to me by his grandson and executors to see
if I could find out anything worth publishing, and
they may before long see the light, when they will
astonish some people, though certainly not prove
that I had tricked my earliest, fastest and truest
friend. Another thing those unconvicted or,
rather, released gaol-birds have found out is that
I was returned by the priests to a seat in Parlia-
ment. I was returned against an Archbishop
(John Tuam), two Bishops (Brown and Higgins),
and a host of priests. I never had anything to do
with the lot, except when I saved them from them-
selves on the Titles Bill, and my dear friend
Bishop Brown backed me and supported me
against all comers. Hoping soon to see you,

‘ Believe me to be, etc.,

‘William Keogh.’

* Lord Chancellor Brewster (see p. 144, infra).

Digitized by LjOOQle

A TOUCHING FAREWELL

137

In London he consulted Dr. (now Sir Richard)
Quain, who found him extremely ill. * His heart
dilated, weak, and irritable; his liver large and
hard ; his nervous system greatly disturbed ; he is
agitated and sleepless/

Keogh was unwilling to relinquish his work, and
deferred until autumn a trip to the German spa
which Dr. Quain had prescribed. The Judge’s
relations with Healy had been as close as those
which once united Cowley and Harvey. And as the
priest saw him off at Kingstown a tear was dropped,
while Keogh quoted Cowley’s well-known lines on
their social intercourse in the past, concluding :

‘ Wit, eloquence, and poetry,

Arts which I loved, for they, my friend, were thine.’

On one occasion during a passage to Holyhead
he seemed very restless on board, constantly adding
to some document he was writing, then replacing
it in his pocket, and ever and anon drawing it out
again and continuing his notes. He sojourned for
some time in North Wales, his nervous system
much disturbed. At Bingen in July his mind
wandered, but having lost a good deal of blood
from the effects of an accident, he recovered full
consciousness.

The Cork Examiner of the day gives prominence
to the following letter from its London correspond-
ent : ‘ I am able to inform you that Judge Keogh,
a week before his death, when he had recovered

Digitized by LjOOQle

138 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

full possession of his mental faculties, had Father
Healy, P.P., Bray, instantly telegraphed for. The
dying man expressed intense anxiety lest Father
Healy should arrive too late, and was only calmed
by the receipt of telegrams at every stage of the
rev. gentleman’s journey. Father Healy is the
celebrated wit, and was Judge Keogh’s most inti-
mate friend before the judicial utterances were
made which estranged him from all Catholics. The
priest arrived in good time, administered the last
offices, and remained with Judge Keogh to the last.’

The above was copied into the Freeman's Journal
and other papers, but I cannot quite satisfy myself
of its authenticity, though the paragraph was never
denied. This I know of a certainty, that when
the Judge was sojourning at Bangor, en rotUe to
Germany, finding himself very ill, he wired to
Father Healy to come to him in all haste, which
he did ; and I have it on high authority that,
previous to his death at Bingen, namely, on Sep-
tember 80, 1878, he received with much devotion
the last rites of the Catholic Church.

During Father Healy’s sojourn at Carlsbad, the
year he died, when sitting in front of his hotel with
a friend, they amused themselves by scanning the
motley throng that passed. One who bore a re-
semblance to Keogh went by. ‘Ah, poor Billy
Keogh,’ mused Father Healy. ‘That man was
more sinned against than sinning. What did he

Digitized by LjOOQle

KEOGH'S WRITINGS

139

do, after all, but indulge in what Macaulay calls
one of those bursts of virtuous indignation which
periodically move England ?’

‘A History of Ireland since the Union,’ from
Keogh’s pen, had been announced by Hurst and
Blackett, but never appeared. His first publication
was ‘ Ireland under Lord Grey,’ and he also wrote
‘ Ireland Imperialised.’ * The Voice of the Bar ;
or, Age of Mediocrity,’ a savage attack on Pigot,
Monahan, and other barristers who got high pro-
motion, though commonly attributed to Keogh,
was really written by Daniel Owen Maddyn.

Digitized by LjOOQle

CHAPTER YIH.

A Narrow Escape — Anecdotes— The Plymouth Brethren —
Lord Chancellor Brewster — Sir Bobert Stewart— Handel’s
Organ — Isaac Butt — Monckton Milnes — Dublin Castle —
Anecdotes— Lord Ashbourne — Sir Redvers Buller — Sir H.
Campbell Bannerman — * Sparks.’

A lifelong friendship, still simpler, closer, and
even stronger, in its ties, was that which subsisted
between Father Healy and Canon Keon. It
originated in the circumstance that both well-nigh
lost their lives together. One day they went out to
sea in a yacht belonging to Mr., now Lord Justice,
Barry, anchored it, and then proceeded to bathe.
They were a considerable distance out, and * the
Kish Light ’ had been a long time passed. The
yachtsman lost his head and was unable to control
the ship, and as it scudded away Keon and Healy
gave themselves up for lost; prayers fast and
fervent were said. At last, as if by miracle, they
saw the derelict yacht tack and return towards the
place from which it escaped. Thirty years after-

Digitized by

Google

A DANGEROUS EXCURSION

141

wards Healy, in making his will, left a generous
souvenir to Canon Eeon.

It was not very long after that Father Healy con-
ceived that he was near another ‘dose shave.*
One night, after having dined at Dublin Castle, he
took his seat in a fast train for Bray, and observed
with some concern, as it whirled past two or three
stations, that it rocked from one side to the other
owing to an unusually rapid rate of speed. The
Padre put his head out of the window in hopes of
discovering the cause. I give the story as Father
Healy told it, minus , of course, his inimitable
gestures, the main secret of his success as a racon-
teur : ‘Make your mind asy, yer reverence,’ said
an old woman, who sat on the opposite side, ‘ it’s
my son Jim who is driving the engine to-night, and
when he has a drop in he would as soon dash
on to Wicklow as not.’* Persons connected with
the railway are suffered to travel first-class, which
explains how it was that the old woman chanced to
be Healy’s vis-a-vis. ‘ But,’ said the priest, still
ill at ease, * are you sure he can drive ?’ ‘ Af

coorse; wasn’t he postilion at Quinn’s Hotel for
five years V

It was his fate to meet in the train, but not at

* In Michigan it is the law that only total abstainers shall
be employed as engine-drivers, train-despatchers, and brakes-
men. Any railway employing any but total abstainers is
liable to a fine of 500 dollars for each offence.

Digitized by LjOOQle

142 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

night, a woman of another type. Miss H , a

famous ‘ Plym,’ or member of the sect which take
their name from the maritime town in Devon, lived
at Blackrock, and when travelling by train was
constantly on the look-out for a priest to tackle.
Her nose, a very long one, seemed always ready
to scent mischief. Father Healy tried for some
time, with pleasant persiflage, to parry what she
considered good home - thrusts, and just as he
alighted from the train she delivered a Parthian
shot by exclaiming : ‘ Hitherto you have failed to
quote a single Scriptural passage in reply to me.
Can you not think of one ?’

Turning to a friend, he said: ‘I felt sorely
tempted to retort, “Thy nose is as the tower of
Libanus that looketh towards Damascus.” ’ *

He travelled to Dublin often twice a day, having
been regularly presented with a season-ticket by an
esteemed friend.

An Evangelical gentleman, when conversing with
Healy in the train, just as it left Bray, said :
4 How sad are the privations of the poor ! I am
sure you feel acutely for those of your own flock.
See that little girl with the attenuated leg picking
cockles yonder.’

‘Oh, sir, you couldn’t expect that so small a
heifer could have a big calf/ was the reply.

Two ladies entered the carriage, placing in the
* Canticles vii. 4 .

Digitized by CjOOQle

ANECDOTES

M3

network above Healy’s head some novels which
they were about to change at a library. They
observed, ere long, that the network was broken,
and that the books might fall through. They called
his attention to the danger, but the volumes, he
said, were merely light literature.

‘What house is that?’ somebody asked, pointing
to a pretentious one on Old Connaught Hill known
as the Castle. ‘ That is the Palais Biall,’ he
replied, meaning that it was the handsome resi-
dence of Phineas Biall, near Little Bray.

A smart young lady, pointing to some cows
which were grazing in a field bristling with thistles,
facetiously called them ‘ widows.’

‘ Is it because they are black cattle ?* he asked.

‘ No, because they are in weeds.'

* You mean that they are grass widows.’

‘ That’s a very cross-looking little dog of yours,’
he was overheard to say.

‘ Oh, his bark is worse than his bite.’

‘ I shouldn’t like to have him for a curate.’

Those who remember the late Bight Hon.
Abraham Brewster and how anti-Catholic he was,
will be surprised to find Father Healy an habitue
of his house in Merrion Square. Their intimacy
is shown by an anecdote. The Bev. Chancellor
Tisdall, a well-known divine of the then Established
Church, also cultivated friendly relations with the
priest, and, happening to meet him near Brewster’s

Digitized by LjOOQle

144 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

house, found that both were asked to dine there
that evening. In one of Beaumont and Fletcher’s
plays, Antonio, meeting Bartolo, asks, 1 Where do
you sup to-night ?’ and adds, ‘ Let us plan a con-
federacy of jokes.’ In this spirit it was arranged
by Dr. Tisdall that both should ‘take a rise’
out of Brewster, who was about the shrewdest as
well as the least sensitive man at the Irish Bar.
When Dr. Tisdall entered the room, Brewster in a
whisper said, ‘ There is a priest present, and don’t
touch on controversy.’ He then presented them in
due form. Healy made the very slightest inclina-
tion of his head, while the parson superciliously
surveyed his rival from top to toe. The host was
much relieved when, on the announcement of
dinner, Dr. Tisdall took Father Healy’s arm,
saying, ‘ This is a millennium of parsons, and there
shall be no precedence.’ Amid much laughter they
proceeded to the dining-room, followed by Sir
Robert Peel,* Bernal Osborne, and a dozen
others.

A hypochondriac priest from the country, who
was staying at Bray in the hope of obtaining relief
from chronic dyspepsia, took a walk along the
beach with Father Healy. ‘ I have derived relief

* Strained relations subsisted between Sir R. Peel, when
Irish Secretary of State, and Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop of
Dublin. Peel attacked him in public speeches, and Brewster
is said to have been his prompter.

Digitized by LjOOQle

THREE GREAT LIES

145

from drinking a tumbler of salt water fresh from
the tide,’ he said. 1 Do you think I might venture
to take a second?’ Father Healy put on the
solemn expression known as ‘ his considering cap,*
and at last said, ‘Well, I don’t think a second
would be missed.’

A spinster of many summers and of some esprit
was intimate in a family who also claimed Healy
as a frequent guest. This lady was subjected to
pleasant badinage. One day in 1870 the talk
turned on the Vatican Council, then sitting. * I
hear they are going to allow the priests to marry,’
said the host. ‘ If so, Bridget may have a chance
yet,’ replied Healy sotto voce .

Dr. Cumming, the great Scotch Presbyterian,
asked leave to speak at the Vatican Council. ‘ He
should first abjure his Knox - ious heresy,’ said the
Padre.

Father Healy saw a good deal of Sir Robert
Stewart, who lived at Hollywood, Bray, a man of
wide culture and great personal charm.

One evening Sir Robert said, * There are three
great lies told and believed in Dublin.’

‘ What are they ?’

1 First, that an officer was devoured by rats in
Christ Church vaults; secondly, that there is a
subterranean passage under the Liffey between
Mary’s Abbey and Christ Church Cathedral ; and
thirdly, that the organ on which Handel played

10

Digitized by LjOOQle

146 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

the “Messiah” is now in St. Michan’s, Church
Street/

‘ And where might the real organ be V asked
Father Healy.

‘ In Isaac Butt’s back parlour.’

* Bless me ! what a wonderful fixture that
must be.’*

A tinge of unkindness was rarely, if ever, trace-
able in the prismatic sparkle of his jests. The
allusion to Mr. Butt affords a slight exception.
The debts of this remarkable man, and the seizures
which resulted, were a matter of public notoriety.
Healy had imbibed from Judge Keogh a prejudice
against Butt, who had angrily arraigned his judicial
conduct before the House, and even called for a
division.

Father Healy had a younger sister who nearly
equalled her brother in powers of wit. Monica
Healy was a woman of great natural gifts, whose
auburn hair curtained features which revealed
traces of Celtic beauty. She could throw off
without effort gems of poetry, and in ordinary con-

* Sir Robert Stewart, in his sixth lecture on H&ndel,
acknowledges his obligations to the Rev. Richard Johnson,
of Kilmore Rectory, Armagh, who ‘placed at his disposal
Handel’s organ, a precious relic, his property, now standing
in 64, Eccles Street.’ This had been the residence of Francis
Johnson, the great Dublin architect, and founder of the
Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts. It was subsequently
occupied by Isaac Butt, Q.C., M.P.

Digitized by LjOOQle

MONICA MEALY

147

versation answer in antithesis. Her ‘ Legends oi
the Saints/ which appeared anonymously, did not
convey by its title the sort of book it was, beyond
the fact that its poetry had a strongly devotional
tone. Works of this sort rarely sell, but such was
the charm of Monica’s Muse that in a short time
the whole edition was exhausted. I am informed
by her publisher that in announcing this fact to
Miss Healy he sent her a cheque by his clerk. For
this she seemed so wholly unprepared that her
fingers trembled as she read the record of her
success. But she was destined not to enjoy its
fruit long. A hectic tinge heightened the comeli-
ness of her face. One day during the tedious
illness which preceded her death, Father Healy,
after hearing a more satisfactory report of her
symptoms, said, ‘It’s well you are better.’ She
answered, * It would be better if I were well.’

On October 8, 1876, Monica fell with the leaves,
aged forty-six. Besides devotional poetry, she had
produced anonymously some songs redolent of Irish
wit, notably ‘ The Devil among the Soupers.’ A
handsome massive cross of white marble marks the
site of her grave at Giasnevin. Father Healy
made constant pilgrimages to this spot, and would
pray and weep by turns. In October, 1894, he
was himself laid to rest beneath the same cross.

When Father Healy first went on the mission,
Archbishop Murray regularly attended the Vice-

Digitized by LjOOQle

i 4 8 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

regal Court, in common with nearly all the Catholic
Prelates of that day. It was at Dublin Castle that
an A.D.C., directing attention to the venerable
figure of Dr. Murray with his pectoral cross, asked
Dr. Whately, the Protestant Archbishop, the differ-
ence between a Roman Prelate and a jackass?

* One wears the cross upon his back, and the other
upon his breast/ explained the A.D.C. ‘ Do you
know the difference between an aide-de-camp and
a donkey?’ asked Dr. Whately. ‘No/ said the
other. ‘ Nor I either/ was the reply.

Archbishop Cullen, on succeeding to Dr. Murray,
kept clear of the levee, and was followed in this
course by his brother Bishops. Four priests, how-
ever, continued to attend ; Canon Pope, Rev. John
Murtagh, Rev. Christopher Burke, and the Rev.
J. Healy, who, when the others died off, found
himself alone.

He was very intimate at the Viceregal Court of
Earl Spencer. One evening an A.D.C. of an in-
quiring turn of mind, said : ‘ As you are well up in
Biblical points, will you tell us the difference
between the cherubim and the seraphim ?’

* Well, I believe there was a difference between
them a long time ago, but they have since made it
up/*

* Had Healy been seriously consulted, he would probably
have replied that the cherubim and seraphim are two distinct
orders of angels. The former are described in Gen. iii. 24 ;

Digitized by LjOOQle

AT COURT

149

* I cannot conceive how Jonah could live in the
stomach of a whale,’ someone said.

* Oh, that’s nothing. I saw Dr. Meldon this day
coming out of a fly.’

He saw a good deal of Monckton Milnes, Lord
Houghton, at this time, and recognized the origin-
ality of his wit. It was Houghton who cynically
muttered * Chiropodists ’ when a vain woman
boasted of all the men she had at her feet. His
stories were comical, and his criticisms incisive.
But there was one point on which Healy failed
to agree with him, namely, that social happiness
consists in being asked everywhere and going
nowhere.

Healy rarely played cards, but one evening did so
to make himself agreeable. Taking out a handful
of coin, from which a threepenny-piece dropped on
the cloth, a pleasant peer felt privileged to exclaim,
* You got that at the Sunday collection.’

‘ Your lordship recognizes your own contribution,’
was the ready reply.

Exod. xxv. 18 ; 1 Kings vi. 28-30 ; Ezek. i., v., ix., x. ; Heb. ix. 5 ;
and their office has been revealed as that of keeping watchful
guard of the Divine glory. The seraphim, another order of
celestial beings, are described by the prophet Isaiah (vi. 2-4)
as of human form, but each one provided with three pairs of
wings; with one pair they covered their faces in token of
reverence, and with another they covered their feet, as a
mark of humility ; while the third pair they used for swift
flight, a significant symbol for prompt obedience.

Digitized by LjOOQle

150 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

Colonel Turner, R.M., in meeting Father Healy
after many years, at the table of a mutual friend,
said : ‘ 1 once heard you give a smart rebuke. It
was at the opening of the exhibition in Dublin;
Lord and Lady Spencer recognized you in the
crowd, and indicated by their manner that they
wished you to join their party. A seeming gentle-
man, but who probably held Fenian views, stepped
forward and said to you, “ It’s easy to see you were
bred in the Royal College of Maynooth.”

‘ “ It is easy to see that you have never been to
any college,” was the reply. “ You are dressed in
the garb of a gentleman, and if you had held your
tongue you might have been mistaken for one.’ ”
‘Honestly simple himself,’ writes Healy ’s late
curate, 1 he was the lifelong foe of cant and pre-
tension ; but he never crushed the trampled reed.
He loved to help the helpless, and he was ever
ready to break a lance in defence of the worsted.’
One forenoon that Mr. Brooks, who had just
been made a D.L., meant to attend the lev6e,
Father Healy chanced to drop into his stores on
some matter of business ; within an hour they
again met at the Castle. ‘ Where’s your sword ?’
asked the D.L. ‘ We wore them once, but since
St. Peter misbehaved himself we are not allowed
to carry them.’

Mr. Brooks knew that the allusion was to the
disciple who with his sword cut off the ear of the

Digitized by LjOOQle

ANECDOTES 151

servant of the High-Priest,* and Healy, rapidly
passing from so serious a subject, proceeded to
observe upon his friend’s red coat and cocked hat,
adding, ‘ Is this your martial or your commercial
uniform ?*

At a dinner in Dublin Castle the Keeper of the
Great Seal asked :

‘ Father Healy, as you know everything, will
you explain the origin of kissing under the mistle-
toe?’

‘ What should we know about it?’ was the answer.
‘ Perhaps when you and I were young it was not
under the mistletoe, but under the rose.’

A stage-struck A.D.C. confessed to having fairly
adored Tree.

‘ Why, you are a perfect Druid,’ was the reply ;
‘ but I admit he is a pop’lar Tree.*

When entertained by a peer, and asked to take
precedence to the dining-room, he replied : ‘ A
pious Christian is never outdone in politeness.’

The day had now come when he was a lord
among wits and a wit among lords. ‘Father
James,’ as his intimates called him, writes Lord
Ashbourne, ‘ was one of the most charming of men
— racy of the soil, a true Irishman, a true friend,
kind, witty, genial, sociable. We shall not soon

* Matt. xxvi. 51, 52. Healy told his curate that two
parsons who overheard the allusion seemed quite surprised at
a Romish priest knowing anything of Scripture.

Digitized by LjOOQle

152 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

look upon hie like again. I knew him for over a
quarter of a century ; I have dined with him on
several occasions in his house at Little Bray, and I
can never forget those wonderful and hospitable
entertainments. The numbers varied — sometimes
eight, ten, twelve, even fourteen. The most varied
guests met at his table. I have sat there at the
same time with Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar,
Lord Powerscourt, Monsignor Persico, Archbishop
Walsh, Lord Morris, Chief Baron Palles, and others.
His guests were always delighted to be there, and
he was delighted to have them. One servant
cooked the dinner and brought it to the table, and
no one could tell how the attendance was arranged.
Once, I remember, when some officer of the Guards
was dining with the Padre, he looked round for a
servant to take his coat and hat when he entered
the house, and the host came forward smiling,
saying : “ You know those footmen of mine all gave
me notice and left on the spot when they heard
that you were coming.” He was brilliant, quick
like lightning in conversation, and never hesitated
for a second to come out with a sparkling, genial
mot.

‘ Sir Eedvers Buller dined with him on one
occasion when the other guests were Archbishop
Walsh and eleven priests. Sir Eedvers made a
slight start when he saw he was the only layman.
11 Never mind,” said Father Healy ; “ the soutane is

Digitized by CjOOQle

ANECDOTES

153

not worse than the Soudan.” ... I said to him,
when living during a summer in his parish, “I
think I met your curate just now — rather stout.”
He replied, “ That’s him. I send him out as a
sample, and keep the thin one at home.”

* His friends comprised all classes, rich and poor,
old and young, Protestant and Catholic. He was a
priest devoted to his Church and to his flock, but
his heart was big enough to include kind and loving
feelings for all, and it will be long before Father
James passes from the memory of those who had
the delight of knowing him.’

‘ Our Annual Retreat begins on Thursday,’
writes a distinguished personage, asking him to
meet Lord Randolph Churchill and others. * Colla-
tion at seven, and be sure you come in time to say
grace.’ In saying grace, even when only Protes-
tants were present, he never failed to bless himself ;
but not so demonstratively as Bellew, who, whenever
he performed that act, gave his arm such a flourish
that the man who sat next him ran some risk of
receiving a black eye.

One day at Dublin Castle the conversation turned
on nationalities, and Mr. Browning, the private
secretary to the then Chief Secretary for Ireland,
asked Father Healy how he would describe a
Scotsman. The Padre, assuming the accent of
Auld Reekie, answered : ‘ A Scot is a mon who
keeps the Sawbeth and everything else that he can

Digitized by

Google

54 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

get.* As the Chief Secretary for Ireland happened
to be a Scotsman, much mirth was the result.
It was Mr., now Sir H., Campbell Bannerman,
who had been Financial Secretary and Secretary to
the Admiralty, and was afterwards twice Secretary
for War.

When Lady , who had dispensed with special

charm the festivities at Dublin Castle, was leaving
Ireland, she offered to some valued friends as a
souvenir the choice of two photographs, one a
profile, the other a front face. The profile was
handsomer than the latter, but Father Healy chose
the front face. ‘ Why do you take it, when the
profile is declared to be so much nicer?’ she asked.

‘ Because I’ll have more of you.’

Lord Ashbourne jotted down many other anec-
dotes elsewhere embodied. The following, how-
ever, is in dispute, as I am assured by the Rev. J.
Kennedy, formerly curate at Dalkey to Dr. Leet,
that it was said by Pat Costello to Leet. ‘All
Dubliners know Dalkey Protestant Church,’ writes
Ashbourne, ‘ built on an eminence, the greater part
of which, immediately joining the church, is quar-
ried away. Some people were chatting over the
neighbourhood and its beauties one day, and the
site of the church was praised. A Protestant gentle-
man turned, smiling, to the priest, and said, “ Our
church is founded on a rock.” Like lightning came
the genial assent, “ Yes ; a blasted rock.” ’

Digitized by LjOOQle

WAIFS

*55

He met in the train an old priest from a remote
Irish diocese, remarkable for a strong brogue
and a rough irony. He was accompanied by
several other country priests who were taking a
holiday. The sage with a brogue said to Healy,
by way of giving him a rub and raising a laugh at
his expense, * Where did you get your courtly
manners ?’ ‘ It must have been from mamma,’ was
the reply, ‘ for my father was as common as any of
yourselves.’

He looked in to see a Protestant woman who
had arranged to go to America with her daughter.
‘But,’ she said, in mincing accents, ‘I fear I’ll
never reach the other side.’

‘ Do not fear, ma’am,’ interposed the Padre, with
his irrepressible swiftness to seize on the ridiculous
element in every situation ; ‘ you’ll retch plenty
before you arrive at the other side.’

He was much amused by the reply of a local
bookseller who, when asked by a lady, * Have you
got “Blasted Hopes”?’ said, ‘No, ma’am, but I’ve
a blasted toothache !’

All ranks received the Padre’s greeting. When
passing a well-known hotel, he would say to the
man in the gold cap at the entrance, ‘ This is a
good gap you’re on ’ — meaning that his ‘ tips ’ were
ample. Sometimes he’d say, ‘ You get more dues
than a parish priest,’ or, * You’ll be retiring into
private life some day as a millionaire.’

Digitized by

Google

156 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Patrick Kehoe, the well-known bacon-curer in
Francis Street, whose private residence was 28 ,
Herbert Place, entertained the man who, like
St. Paul, was all things to all. The Padre was in
high spirits, and quoted Moore’s lines :

‘ “ When I see thus around me my youth’s early friends.” ’

A good deal of champagne flowed, and when dinner
was over, Kehoe, pushing a bottle of it towards
Healy, asked him to finish it. He at once put on
a most comically affected accent and expression,
exclaiming, well aware that all present knew the
humble position which his father occupied, ‘ Sir, if
my papa saw me drink champagne after dinner, he
would cut me off with a shilling !’

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 157 ]

CHAPTER IX.

An Irish Election— An Action at Law and Father Healy’s
Evidence — Major O’Reilly, of Knock Abbey — A Rough
Reply — The Breakfast at the Royal St. George’s Yacht
Club — Sensational Incident — Exit O’Reilly Dease — His
Strange Will.

As the General Election of 1874 approached, it
became evident that the members for Louth,
Chichester Fortescue, afterwards Lord Carlingford,
and Matthew O’Keilly Dease, would have something
to do'to hold their seats. Just as both sides were
girding their loins for battle, Father Healy went
down to Dunleer, the residence of Dease, in Louth.
The priest’s seeming interference in even the
political affairs of another diocese was viewed with
rather a jealous eye, and the popular candidate,
Philip Callan, threatened him that if he did not
leave Louth forthwith he would bring up a for-
midable contingent with iron sinews to show him
the road, aided by a brass band to drum him out of
the town. Healy only smiled at the threat, as one

Digitized by LjOOQle

158 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

which, in the excitement of an Irish election, might
be condoned, and, in point of fact, had previously
decided on withdrawing from a scene but little
to his taste, and where, later, the clangour of
conflict grew awkwardly warm. Popularity in
Ireland is a transitory possession. Dease polled
only 265 votes, while 1,082 were registered for
Callan. Fortescue, with great territorial influence,
mustered only 607 votes, and Alexander M. Sullivan,
the popular author of ‘ New Ireland,’ headed the
poll with 1,172. How popular Callan was at this
time — who in later contests would not be listened
to — is shown in the fact that at the same election
he was also returned for Dundalk, and, having
chosen to sit for that place, a new writ was issued,
and George Harley Kirk became Member for Louth.

In June, 1874, an action was brought by Philip
Callan against Matthew O’Beilly Dease for defama-
tory words.

Some reference had been made by Callan to a
dinner at Dease’s, when mulled claret was said to
have been produced at his suggestion, and, in order
to weaken Callan’s case, Father Healy was sub-
poenaed as a witness, to prove that on the particular
occasion in question Callan was not present ; and
it afterwards appeared that Callan had mixed up
the incidents of two evenings.

The Bar expected that Healy’s evidence and
examination would have supplied the library in

Digitized by CjOOQle

ONE FARTHING DAMAGES 159

which they congregate with a large stock of
Healyana. Priests and laics shared this expecta-
tion, and the court was packed like prunes in a box.
But the priest, without dealing in monosyllables, as
O’Connell once advised his daughter to do on such
occasions, was more than ordinarily guarded.
However, he at last raised a laugh by expressing a
remark to the effect that to mull Chateau Margeaux
as Mr. Callan boasted to have done was an act of
vandalism enough to make Gilbey pale or Grattan
turn in his grave.* Callan claimed £1,000 damages,
but one farthing was all he succeeded in getting.

Dease was in Parliament at the same time as
Major Myles William O’Reilly, of Knock Abbey,
County Louth, who, with Colonel, afterwards Lord,
Greville, had been returned for Longford in three
successive elections. He was a cousin of O’Reilly
Dease, through his mother, but had not maintained
social intercourse, and on meeting Dease in the
lobby of the House introduced himself, with much
gravity, as his kinsman and colleague. ‘ Sir,’ said
Dease, turning abruptly away, ‘ the world is wide
enough for both of us.’ This speech — that of
Uncle Toby when liberating the fly — he had re-
membered Healy reading aloud with unction to
his mother.

Major O’Reilly had qualified for popularity by

* For an illustration of Grattan's love for claret, see * Table-
Talk of Samuel Rogers,’ p. 175.

Digitized by CjOOQle

160 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

commanding a brigade of volunteers who repaired
to Italy to fight for the Pope in defence of his
temporal power. Their war service did not extend
much beyond a slight action at Spoletto. Father
Healy used to say that Major O’Reilly one day
asked Vincent Scully, M.P. for Cork County, how
much it would cost to contest that county. ‘ You
will have to bleed more freely than at Spoletto,’
was the reply.

The Major’s kinsman, O’Reilly Dease, though
usually all bows and scrapes, could be stiff-necked
enough. He had a variable temper, and at
times was as ticklish to touch as a hair-triggered
pistol on full cock. At the head of his table no
Chesterfield could be more suave; but his talk—
usually beginning, ‘Have I ever told you’ — had
little in it beyond a lisp. His dinners at the
Reform Club were recherche; he dined well and
talked much ; he had a new wine and an old story
for every course, with specially old samples of both
for the finish — a claret of 1812, and an anecdote of
the Prince Regent, who, having heard someone
describe empty bottles as ‘marines,’ in presence
of an officer of that corps, said, ‘Yes, they have
done their duty, and are prepared to do it
again.’

The Padre was an early man, and always made
his breakfast a meal of enjoyment, which Rogers,
Montaigne or Holmes might have envied. Its

Digitized by LjOOQle

A MEMORABLE MEAL

161

heartiness in spirit and reality arose partly from
the fact that he made it a point to avoid sapper,
and never to eat between breakfast and dinner.
Dease sought to discharge part of his obligation to
Healy by bringing him to breakfast at the Royal
St. George’s Yacht Club, Kingstown, although in-
formed that by the rules of the club no guests were
admitted. A sharp appetite, grateful tea, delicious
bacon, the fresh morning air and vase of bright
flowers, the separate table,* with a charming view
of Howth and the Bay, made this meal memorable,
and the Padre abandoned himself to enjoyment,
little dreaming that a loaded mine was being pre-
pared beneath.

Dease’s infraction of rule having been duly re-
ported, the committee of the club wrote twice to
him without receiving an answer, and a third time
sent a registered letter asking for any explanation
he might wish to give, and thus leaving every
opportunity for apology ; but as no answer came,
the committee at last called a meeting and formally
expelled Dease.

Dease finally became very eccentric in his habits.
When travelling by train between Bray and Dublin,

* * Breakfast at Trentham,’ says Lord Beaconsfield in
1 Lothair,’ 1 was served on half a dozen or more round tables,
which vied with each other in grace and merriment, brilliant
as a cluster of Greek or Italian republics, instead of a great
metropolitan table like a central government absorbing all
the genius and resources of society.’

11

Digitized by LjOOQle

1 62 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

he roused the ire of some passengers by lying at
full length on the cushions ; and he was often seen
in the streets smoking a clay pipe.

Some relatives of Dease’s — the Misses Wigstrom
— had passed a good deal of time at Ravenswell.
Dease funded a sum which gave these ladies £300
a year. The eldest, when dying, in an overstrained
sense of gratitude, willed it back to Dease, with
thorough confidence that he would make it over
again to her sister ; but Dease did not see it, and
at last he died, leaving his great property for the
reduction of the National Debt, and an Act of
Parliament had to be passed to secure her succes-
sion to it. His later studies had been devoted to
the theory that the probable exhaustion of the coal-
mines would seriously embarrass England, and this
thought mainly influenced his bequest. Relatives
contested his will, but the deed was well drawn and
stood. 1 The best proof of his lunacy,’ said Lord
Chancellor Ashbourne to Father Healy, ‘is in
leaving nothing to you , to whom he professed to owe
so much.’ The hardship to which certain relatives
were subjected was brought before Parliament, and
gave rise to some touching oratory; and in the
end Mr. Goschen, when Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, announced that a dole, though not a large
one, would be given in one case. After Dease’s
death Ravenswell passed into other hands, and

Digitized by LjOOQle

A HORRIBLE DISCOVERY

163

became the scene of a mysterious murder. Great
horror was excited by the discovery of the dead
body of a woman at the bottom of the well in the
garden.*

0 O’Reilly Dease was the last of his line, and had no
connection with his respected namesakes of Meath and the
Queen’s County.

*

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ I&4 ]

CHAPTER X.

Bev. Charles Meehan — Traits of his Acute Cynicism — How
Father Healy sought to correct and cure him — Bishop
Moran — The ‘ Penny Warbler ’ preferred to Calderon —
Lisdoon varna — Clarence Mangan — Trip to Paris — Father
Kenyon — John O'Toole — A Death-bed.

No two men saw more of each other than James
Healy and Charles Meehan. Meehan was a ripe
scholar and a gifted writer, and though he lacked
much of the geniality of his friend, he concealed
beneath a rough exterior many excellent traits of
character, and he was sincerely attached to Father
Healy. The quaint ana which I am now about to
give are interesting as explaining Healy’s relations
with Meehan, and the tone he found it necessary to
take towards a man with whom it was proverbially
hard to get on.

Their close association began as fellow-curates in
the parish of SS. Michael and John. In Chapter III.
some recollections of Meehan’s choleric character
are given ; it might be said that he stung his
pastor out of the parish, and Healy was the only

Digitized by

Google

A RUDE SPEECH

165

man whose chastising retorts Meehan feared and
yet valued.

Meehan, as he got old, became rather ascetic in
his tastes, but with manners fashioned more after
Diogenes in his tub than De Sales in his cell. He
did not fancy stout priests as a rule, and called one,
from his girth of frame, Cetewayo. Another
portly presbyter of the Pro-Cathedral introduced
himself to Father Meehan one day to thank him
for something he had written. ‘ So you are

Father M ; I always thought you were one

of Guinness's draymen,' he said, and away he
stalked.

Endless examples of his seeming savagery might
be given. But what observer has not noticed that
ferocity is sometimes simulated as well as gentle-
ness ? Perhaps there are as many sheep in wolves’
clothing as there are wolves in sheep's.* His
comparison of a brother priest to a drayman was
deemed about the rudest speech he ever uttered.
But perhaps his remark was not as severe as it
sounded. It is approvingly recorded by Mr.
Duycknick that a college chum said of Sydney
Smith, the witty Canon of St. Paul’s, that ‘his

0 I have seen his eyes well up in tears when reading from
the altar the list of the dead — perhaps the only priest of whom
such a thing could be told. But, like Erin, he could smile
through his tears too, and if a friend looked into his room
that evening, and provided that Meehan’s dinner had agreed
with him, the chances are he would find a second Rabelais.

Digitized by CjOOQle

1 66 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Bense and clumsiness gave the idea of an Athenian
carter.’

Meehan, although a wit, was a perfect contrast
to Healy. Meehan liked to cut friends in the street,
and anyone who stopped him, saying, ‘ Well,
what’s going on to-day?’ would be apt to receive
Jerrold’s retort, ‘ 1 am,* while he broke abruptly
away.

Healy, on the contrary, no matter how pressed
for time, stopped to talk with every man he knew,
even if that man had an idiosyncrasy the reverse
of his own. He never preferred hiB train to his
friend, or the smiles of the great to the iron grip of
a cordial hand.

Meehan’s vis-a-vis at a dinner-party was a man
whom he took to be a fop, but in point of fact he
was nothing of the sort. The latter addressed some
remark to Meehan. ‘ Sir, your articulation is
singularly indistinct,’ was the reply. The remark
was repeated. ‘ Oh, sir, will you please spell it ?’

The late George Campbell asked him if he had
read some new book. * And do you read ?’ was the
supercilious and sole response. In calmer moments
he said of a gentleman whom he had met at Father
Healy’s, ‘ He is a well dressed but most uninteresting
man ’ ; and again, ‘ He has as much expression as
a coffin.’ One day, owing partly to rheumatic
lameness, he was more than ordinarily snappish in
his references to everybody, which led Healy to say,

Digitized by AjOOQle

FATHER MEEHAN 1 S DIGESTION

167

‘ Sorry to see you have got the foot and mouth
disease.’

Fancying that an acquaintance whom he met
in the tram treated him with hauteur, he punished
him by lustily calling to the conductor, ‘ Set this
gentleman down at the nearest public-house.’

The present writer having often heard from
Father Meehan himself a full disclosure of his
symptoms and sufferings, the fact becomes evident
that many of his acts and speeches were influenced,
possibly by a bit of cheese, but more frequently by
bacon or veal, of which, when dining out, he was
obliged to eat or starve.

* I am very ill to-day. I dined yesterday with a
rural priest, who gave me pig’s face and cabbage —

food fit only for ,’ naming a prim layman

who had offended him. Perhaps his chief animus
against him was that, as he bitterly said after-
wards, ‘He could digest crockery.’ He greatly
enjoyed a day’s outing in Wicklow, but ‘ pot luck ’
had its drawbacks. An aged pastor, when enter-
taining him, was suddenly asked, ‘ Did this goose
come to the parish with you V

Father Moran, a schoolfellow of Father Healy’s
at Castleknock, became a curate to Dean O’Connell,
and in February, 1856, was appointed to a bishopric
in Africa, from which he was eventually translated
to New Zealand. The Bishop, having revisited
Dublin, casually met Healy and Meehan. A well-

Digitized by

Google

1 68 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

known and generally respected priest was named.
Meehan said, ‘ Did you ever see such a face as his ?
In Madame Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors I
doubt if you would find one of worse expression,
and were it not for the grace of God there is no
knowing into what crime that man might not
have fallen. 1 The good Bishop, turning the con-
versation, proceeded to describe his diocese, inci-
dentally mentioning as an interesting fact that the
natives gave great honour to reptiles. ‘ And the
more venomous they are,* added his lordship, ‘ the
more they worship them.’ * That is the diocese for
you , Meehan,’ chimed in Father Healy.* ‘ If you
were to migrate there, you’d be hailed as a deity.’
Meehan seemed milder after a few hard rubs like
this.

There was no more frequent visitor to the Chapel
House of SS. Michael and John while Healy was
curate there than MacCarthy — Ireland’s best poet
since Moore. Meehan and he had been most
intimate until the former chose to quarrel with
him. MacCarthy years after sent to Meehan, as
a peace-offering, his beautiful translation of Calde-
ron’s dramas. The book was at once returned
with the following sharp lines :

* In Shirley’s 1 Martyr’d Soldier ’ — an old play published
in 1688 — speaking of the Malossians, we read :

4 A Toad one day they worship : one of them drank
A Health with *s God and poysoned so himselfe.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

MEEHAN AND MACCARTHY

169

‘The Rev. C. P. Meehan thinks very little of
Mr. MacCarthy or Mr. Calderon, and he has found
in the “ Penny Warbler ” better poetry than any
produced by either.*

MacCarthy, having learned that the ‘ Penny
Warbler ’ was published in Thomas Street, at once
started for that destination, secured a copy, and,
finding some doggerel headed ‘ A queer little man
with a very red nose,’ turned down the page and
sent it to Meehan.*

To please a friendly doctor Meehan went one season
to Lisdoonvama, the Harrogate of Ireland, and
once or twice was coaxed to enter what he admitted
was accurately called * the trap * — a waggonette
bound for points of picturesque attraction ; but he
would suddenly break away from his brother ex-
cursionists, and hold solitary converse with the
demon of dyspepsia. The cliffs of Moher might be
fine, and Blackhead not bad ; he felt more interest
in wandering over the stony fields of Clare recall-
ing the remark of the Cromwellian General Ludlow,
‘ There is not a tree to hang a man on, water to
drown him in, or soil to bury him in.’ Years
before he had been to Vichy, without benefit, and
he now came home from the Clare spa growling

* The rupture was afterwards patched up ; for I remember
to have met Meehan in 1880 in MacCarthy’s cottage at the
corner of Sydney Avenue, known to his neighbours as ‘ Poet’s
Comer.*

Digitized by LjOOQle

170 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

that it had not proved a healing pool like that of
Bethesda.

What Carlyle’s mother said of the sage, that ‘ he
was gey ill to deal wi’,’ applied very much to
Charles Meehan. So far back as May 12, 1849,
Clarence Mangan, in a most appreciative notice of
his genius, described

* the disposition and temper of Mr. Meehan as lively, quick, and
bordering on choleric. His Milesian blood courses rather too
hotly through his veins. He is carried away by impulse, and
suffers himself to float without rudder or oar, upon the tide
of that sentiment that sways him for the moment. But he
is a man of a lofty and generous nature. Anything like
hypocrisy is as alien from his heart and soul, as the snake is
from his native land. He needs no sounding-board either to
deliver his sentiments or transmit his fame to after-ages.'

A vain man might resent some points in Mangan’s
criticism, but Meehan was above such pettiness,
and in the same spirit would take in good part
much that I have ventured to say. A few weeks
after Mangan’s sketch appeared, Meehan sought
that ill-starred bard, continued his attached friend
till death, lovingly gathered together his poems,
and became his biographer.

Healy had imbibed from Meehan a strong appre-
ciation of Mangan’s Muse, and this was one of the
few points on which they never had a difference of
opinion. Clarence Mangan’s poems were first
collected by an American editor. An early letter
from Father Healy to myself says : ‘ I hunger and

Digitized by LjOOQle

A TRIP TO PARIS

171

thirst to read them. Will you give food to the
hungry and drink to the thirsty ?’

Those who knew Meehan felt that Healy had
great courage to travel with him to Paris. Both
were wits, but of different types, and the proverb
* Two of a trade ’ was illustrated along the route.
If the records of this trip were preserved, it would
appear that Meehan’s ebullitions surpassed in sting
all previous pronouncements. His feelings found
vent in hyperbole, and sometimes in expletives,
according as the east wind ruffled him or Con-
tinental food refused to assimilate.

Of one of the most voluminous ecclesiastical
historians of his day, he said, ‘ My goodness ! it is
the greatest misfortune that that man was ever
taught his alphabet.’

He said of a priest who had the reputation
of being a great preacher, that he never saw
in his library any other books than ‘Old Moore’s
Almanac,’ the ‘ Penny Warbler,’ and ‘ Boney’s
Oraculum.’

This beats the Canon described by Gil Bias, with
his three volumes — ‘ a great Breviary, a cookery-
book, and a tract on “ Indigestion.” ’

Father Healy had been often on a visit at
Tinode, the seat in Wicklow of the Bight Hon.
W. H. F. Cogan, who thoroughly understood his
sense of humour. Cogan and his family chanced
to be sitting in the courtyard of the Hotel de

Digitized by

Google

172 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Louvre at Paris, when he heard himself pleasantly
hailed by a familiar voice. Healy approached,
followed at some yards’ distance by Meehan, who of
course heard, as it was meant he should hear, this
persiflage. He knew from experience that the only
way to mend Meehan was to touch his sores with a
bit of his own caustic. ‘ You see that fellow yonder,’
he said. ‘ Though we are not on speaking terms,
we travel together, because he can’t manage a word
of French, and is obliged to trust to me to help him
out of every difficulty. It is not pleasant to go
about with a man in such a hat as that — all the
worse that it is cut after the pattern of my own,
and people will think that it is one of my cast-
offs.’ In point of fact, Meehan was a better lin-
guist than Healy himself, and at the Collegio
Irlandese went by the appropriate name of Signor
Musquito.

It is not surprising that in the course of further
peregrinations Meehan suddenly disappeared. Next
day Healy received a curt note from his late com -
pagnon de voyage requesting that a razor he lent
him might be returned. Healy replied :

‘ Dear Meehan, — I return the razor. If you
should be disposed to commit suicide, I would
advise you to get it ground first.’

Healy often remarked that Meehan liked the
hand which struck back, but owing to some perverse
turn in his disease and to the effects of French

Digitized by LjOOQle

A RECONCILIATION

173

cookery, he now failed to find relief from the old
’cure.

Years elapsed, during which Meehan would not
speak to Healy. At last Healy wrote : ‘ Life is
too short for this sort of thing. Let us dismiss
such folly. Come and dine to-morrow.’ Meehan
wisely went, and there was not a breach in their
friendship from that time forth. In the street, in
the country, they were rarely seen asunder, and
their intercourse continued uninterrupted after-
wards.

With the large-heartedness of the true student,
Meehan recognized no boundary-line in the broad
brotherhood of literature, for, be he rampant Tory
or subservient Whig, if he sang or wrote of Ireland,
her history, her antiquities, her legends, or her lore,
he was welcome to that room on the third floor of
the parochial house in Lower Exchange Stoeet.
But the guest should take the sting with the honey.
Meehan contrived to make the dialogue lively
enough, if not always flattering. ‘ He who flatters
degrades himself,’ he writes, ‘and whoever, says
Massillon, burns such incense before his master
means to betray him.’

Against a silent dinner he was war to the knife.
‘ I hope/ he said, when asked to dine — ‘ I hope
your dinner won’t be like one of these funeral
breakfasts, where people eat in silence and look
solemn as tombstones.’ ‘ I’ll undertake that!

Digitized by

Google

174 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

‘An ugly word that, undertake ,’ he mused; ‘get
some other.*

One day a lion of a dinner-party arrived rather
late, and was upbraided by Meehan for coming in
while the soup was being served. ‘ I believe,’ he
said, ‘ you would be late for the Day of Judgment.’
The answer promptly came : ‘ It would be well for
yon if late on that day.’

Whatever he thought he said. The name of
an eminent doctor, since dead, was mentioned.
Meehan’s estimate of him was, ‘ I think him a
successful humbug.’

When going through St. Vincent’s Hospital with
Father Healy, he recognized a nun whom in earlier
days he had known in the world. ‘ What nick-
name have they put on you V he asked, meaning
what was her name in religion, just as a brother
humourist asked another sister, ‘ What is your
name in the world ? or what in the world is your
name ?’

For the next twenty years Meehan dined every
week with Healy. On these occasions he slept at
the house of Father Healy’s curate, who was
fortunate in finding him uniformly amiable. Healy
always contrived to have for Meehan’s dinner
something specially tasteful, which enabled him to
take with equanimity what otherwise might have
been resented. But nevertheless it was observed
on at least one occasion that Meehan, having got

Digitized by AjOOQle

A SOCIAL DESPOT

*75

restive under the treatment, seized his bag and
disappeared.

He was the constant guest of other old friends,
hut it too often happened that at table he became
despotic and dictatorial. By his fellow-priests —
two or three excepted — he was held in terror.
His great learning, talents and critical acumen
inspired awe. A young priest was preaching
in the Church of SS. Michael and John, when,
suddenly becoming conscious of Meehan’s eyeglass
being directed on him, his voice faltered ; he could
not say another word. Father Meehan himself
was a remarkably good preacher. His confessional
was sparsely attended. When sitting in it he
would often be reading St. Augustine. An old
woman knelt down in his * tribunal,’ not knowing
who was there, and, when she recognized her
judge, all but swooned. ‘I made a mistake,’
she muttered. ‘ Yes, ma’am, you’re in the wrong
box.’

The laics with whom he mixed would never
dream of retorting upon him. He was privileged
to say what he liked, and his hard tongue revelled
in unbridled license. He was in the drawing-room
of a respectable trader awaiting the announcement
of dinner, when, chancing to overhear one of the
guests pronounce a surname affectedly, as he
thought, he interposed at once, saying, ‘It is
strange, sir, that you , the son of a peasant, do not

Digitized by AjOOQle

176 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

know how to pronounce the common name
Walsh.* It had become fashionable at that time
with some branches of the sept to sound it like
‘ Wall * rather than ‘ Well.* That the speaker
was the son of a peasant Meehan had not much
reason to assume, but he liked to inflict a sting.
My informant adds that he said other severe things
that day to other guests. Men, he said, who
mimic the accent of their betters are like fellows
who strut about in borrowed clothes.

Healy was the first man who had the courage to
take his correction in hand. The lucid intervals of
their social intercourse were pleasant enough, but
Healy sometimes found it necessary to deal with
his disease crushingly as the only way to get on
with him, and at the same time to make him a
better man.

Michael Crooke, the auctioneer, when dying, left
Meehan a small legacy, and Meehan announced it
rather exultingly to Healy. ‘ He left you that £20,
Meehan, to prevent you from cursing his memory,’
was the reply.

Father John Kenyon, P.P., Templederry, in the
diocese of Killaloe, was a remarkable man, as most
people know.

One evening the following pleasant dialogue was
heard :

Healy : ‘ What a pity that the many good things
which Kenyon said are not preserved.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

A PLEASANT DIALOGUE

177

Meehan : ‘ They are preserved — with me.’

Healy : ‘ In manuscript ?’

Meehan : ‘ Yes.’

Healy : ‘ If so, my name must be often mixed up
in it/

Meehan : ‘ No doubt it is.*

Healy: ‘And when do you mean to have it
published ?*

Meehan: ‘Oh, who knows? Perhaps when I
am in heaven/

Healy : ‘ If readers are to wait for that, you are
free to write down of me whatever you like/
Meehan at times was a most interesting com-
panion, overflowing with anecdote and curiosities
of information acquired in his extensive reading.
He told of an eccentric Scottish chief who loved his
own clan so much that he left one half of his
fortune for Masses to benefit them, and the other
half for curses to be fulminated against a hostile
tribe. Healy’s comment was, ‘ If you got the latter
bequest, Meehan, maybe you wouldn’t knock fire
out of them/*

* Meehan wrote strongly, but he is always found on virtue’s
side. Speaking of the Triumvirate at Rome, he says, 1 May
the execration of every honest heart pursue them and their
bands of assassins !’ (‘ O’Tooles,’ p. cviii.). He was a strong
admirer of Dante, who consigns his preceptor, Latini, to
the Inferno. ‘Public opinion has its Hell, Purgatory, and
Paradise,’ he writes. ‘Who will deliver Castlereagh or
Jemmy O’Brien out of the former ?’ and he quotes some
doggerel beginning —

12

Digitized by

Google

178 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

After the battle of thistles, of which we have had
a glimpse, it may surprise some thin-skinned people
to hear once more that both men were strongly-
attached companions. A shower of sparks certainly
fell every day when their weapons crossed, but I am
assured by a priest who had personal knowledge of
the fact that Healy wept when Meehan was no more.

Nine years before the final summons came, Father
Meehan fell seriously ill. It proved to be, how-
ever, what Curran called a ‘ runaway knock.’
Father Healy visited him, and asked if he had
seen a priest. ‘Yes,’ was the reply, naming the

late Bev. B S . ‘A good fellow, but a

great ass !’

It was for his general impulsiveness, and not for
any graver fault, that Father Meehan never re-
ceived promotion. On meeting his new Diocesan,
he said, 1 You served my Mass, and you find me as
you left me.’

John O’Toole was an original character whom
Father Healy liked to have at his table. He was
as poor as a church-mouse, but the host’s hospi-
tality was never measured by such considerations.

* If you ever are travellin’ near hell,

Just stop an' look in at the corner :

It’s there you’ll see ould Major Sirr,

And Jemmy O’Brien, the informer.

But if ye have time to look on,

Ye’ll see somethin’ that’s ten times more plazin’ :

It’s there you’ll see ould Mai or Swan
In the gulf of perdition all blazin’.'

Digitized by CjOOQle

JOHN a TOOLE

179

The old man, with his shaggy white hair and
flowing beard, was an interesting relic of an
ancient race — the Princes of Imaile — men who for
successive centuries made descents from their
stronghold in Wicklow, and carried fire and sword
into the English Pale. A well-known and respected
wine-merchant lived in Dublin, of whom it might
be said that propriety was his chief characteristic.
His name, however, acted on Toole as a red cloth
to a bull. He would denounce him partly because
he had two Christian names or for some other
absurd caprice, and Healy liked to draw out this
eccentricity. At a dinner the name of this
merchant was mentioned. O’Toole at once pricked
up his ears and growled.

‘Pardon me, sir,’ interposed Morgan D’Arcy,
‘ that gentleman is a friend of mine. I have known
him thirty years as a man of irreproachable
character.’

* But I have known him for forty years,’ growled
the cynic, * and I unhesitatingly denounce the man
as the most arrant humbug and the grossest fraud
ever palmed on a credulous people !’

Meehan, charmed to find a fellow-critic after his
own heart, made no attempt to conceal his appre-
ciation of O’Toole’s strength of expression, and
straightway devoted an entire book to, professedly,
a record of O’Toole’s life and views, but mainly
as a vehicle for the embodiment of his own per-

Digitized by

Google

180 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

sonal thoughts on men and things. The book is
a scarce one ; it contains many charming passages
as well as startling truths, and, being largely auto-
biographic, is intensely interesting, but Meehan’s
name does not appear.

One of the most amusing squibs in the annals
of electioneering literature was the address of old
John O’Toole to the constituency of Wicklow,
promising to do wonders in Parliament, to effect
large reductions in rent, and to get place and
pension for all his friends. This was written by
Meehan in Healy’s house, and it read so plausibly
that, to meet the threatened opposition, Fitz-
william Dick engaged all the cars and attorneys in
the county, at a cost, it is said, of nearly £2,000.

Meehan revered the memory of O’Toole, and in
personal converse at the fireside paid it the com-
pliment of following his style of criticism on men
and things, which, though it amused Healy, he
rarely failed to notice in equally trenchant tones.
By degrees it was observed that Meehan could
control his asperity if skilfully managed by Healy,
and on many occasions he was found the most
charming of companions and best of raconteurs .

In the following extracts a glimpse is got of the
more amicable and rational interchange of views
between the wits. Meehan speaks behind the mask
of O’Toole.

‘ A couple of capons, a roast leg of mutton, and

Digitized by LjOOQle

O TOOLE ON MARRIAGE

181

a frugal dessert, gave us a hearty meal, and when
the cloth was removed our tongues grew mar*
vellously talkful. The young parish priest was
very sprightly, brimming over with good humour,
and armed at all points with repartee and
thought.

“‘Mr. O’Toole,” said he, “I hope we’ll soon
meet here or elsewhere to celebrate your wedding.”

“‘Such an occasion,” I replied, “shall never
come. I have weighed that question duly, and
resolved to follow St. Paul’s advice: ‘Art thou
loosed from a wife ? Seek not a wife.’ St. Basil,
too, has left us some admirable hints on this
matter. ‘ The man,’ said he, ‘ who lives unmated
has none but himself to think for, and can well
look after the concerns of his soul and body, while
the married man is in a state of perpetual anxiety
about his children and wife, to say nothing of the
latter, who must be often apprehensive of be-
coming a widow.* Then, again, the ladies of our
time are very unlike her who, the Book of Pro-
verbs tells us, ‘ sought wool and flax, and wrought
by the counsel of her hands.* I don’t like to say
anything hard of the fair sex, but I believe the
Clytemnestras and Andromaches are very rare just
now.”

‘ “ But if all were of your opinion,” replied the
parish priest, “ what would become of us — I mean,
of our dues?”

Digitized by LjOOQle

182 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

‘ “ Don’t be uneasy on that subject, reverend
sir, for I wouldn’t wonder if what St. Jerome
relates were repeated in Dublin to-morrow. * When
I was secretary to Pope Damasus,’ says that
eminent writer, * I saw a woman who had had
successively twenty-two husbands, and a man who
had had the same number of wives. At last, when
both were free, they married, and the grand
question of the day was, Which of the two will
bury the other ? The woman died, and the
populace assembling, placed a palm in the hands
of the widower, and accompanied him to the
funeral.’ ” ’

Meehan, even when an old man, bore to the last
a boyish aspect, and his voice rang as clear as a
clarion. A censorious whisper had it that he was
vain of his youthful face and voice. One day he
said, quoting from Byron’s ‘ Address to the
Ocean,* ‘ Time has writ no wrinkles on my brow.'
1 Possibly, but he has played the deuce with your
neck,’ replied Healy, pointing to the crumpled skin
which peeped over his Roman collar. But Meehan,
when he liked, had the consoling balm of philo-
sophy at hand. * Wrinkles,* he writes, 4 distin-
guish the thoughtful man and scholar ; the face of
a gourmand is generally as smooth as that of a
new-born babe.’

These things are told that Healy’s readiness may
be fully seen ; but it is due to poor Meehan to say

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE ADVANCE OF DEATH

183

that, so far as I know, and his own recorded senti-
ments go, no man more constantly realized the
advance of death. When much younger, he thus
beautifully expressed himself :

‘ We die daily, hourly, and at every moment, for
as the body groweth, life decreaseth. Infancy, boy-
hood and youth are gone — nay, and even a part
of this day has already been divided with death.
Like the sands in the hour-glass, it is not the last
grain that empties the vessel, since all those that
preceded it have helped to do the same. What is
all this waste and wear of matter but a prolixity of
death ? In health and strength we fancy that we
are not dying ; but this is a delusion. We die from
the cradle to the grave, and although we may be
unconscious of it, we are, nevertheless, going
thither at every moment. Those, says St. Am-
brose, who sleep aboard ship do not feel them-
selves nearing the haven, but they are approaching
it, nevertheless.’

For twenty years he and Healy had their graves
at Glasnevin reserved for them in advance.

During a long period Father Meehan was a rigid
teetotaller, and regularly administered to crowds
the temperance pledge.

The gnawing disease from which he suffered led
to a piquant exaggeration in his criticism. He was
sometimes observed to laugh in his sleeve after
giving vent to a startling statement, which

Digitized by LjOOQle

184 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

shows that hyberbole, and nothing more, was
meant.

Father Healy treated his case as a skilful
physician who had made his diagnosis and acted
accordingly.

During his last illness he was often by the old
man’s side. Father Healy said that the parish
priest was just then leaving the house to call on the
Archbishop, and had he any message ? * You may

tell him that I am dying ; ’ and he added after a
short pause, ‘ And he will be very glad to hear it. #
I am quite resigned,’ he added ; * I have made my
will.* Healy could not resist indulging in some of
their old banter, and perhaps he also sought to
rally him by asking, ‘ Have you left me anything ?’
t The deuce a farthing,* was the reply, given with
vehemence, but he raised his hand to his parched
lips as if to repress it, and, overcome by the effort,
sank back to contemplate the great space on whose
confines he hovered. It will be remembered that
Meehan, twenty years before, had made some over-
tures to Healy, perhaps not quite seriously meant,
that he should act as his literary executor.

4 Jesus have mercy on me !’ was the constant
prayer that came from the patriot-priest’s lips those

* Lord Holland said of an expected visitor, ‘ If I’m alive,
I’ll be glad to see him ; if I am dead, he’ll be glad to see me. 1
Rogers assigns this speech to the Whig lord, but I have seen
it ascribed to Selwyn,

Digitized by AjOOQle

MEEHAN'S FUNERAL

185

last sad days, and he was just the man to have
said, in his own translation of the last words of
Copernicus :

‘ Not the grace Thou gavest Paul,

Who saw Thy Stephen stoned ;

Not the grace that Peter won
When blinding tears his crime aton’d ;

But, ah, dear Saviour, give to me
The grace which Thou on Calvary
Didst give the thief who at Thy side
Repenting hung, repenting died.’’

Previous to the funeral, a Requiem Mass was
sung in the Church of SS. Michael and John, and
the celebrant was the Rev. James Healy. The
Freeman records : * There was a crowded congrega-
tion, embracing all classes, both those with whom
he was more immediately brought in contact as a
clergyman, and those who were able to appreciate
his great qualities as a scholar and an author. In
addition to those present at the High Mass, a large
concourse of people assembled in front of the church
awaiting the departure of the funeral, and on all
sides could be heard expressions of sorrow.*

Digitized by LjOOQle

t >86 ]

CHAPTER XI.

Dean Neville — His Interesting Career — The Land League —
Retort to Dean Quirk — Father Tom Burke — How Canon
Pope’s Monologue was silenced — Father Ring — Stories —
The Tipsy Jarvey — Canon Harold — Anecdotes — An
Enfant de Marie — Recollections of Father Healy by his
Late Curate.

The name of Father Healy, which was now on every
lip, had been a familiar household word in Ireland
half a century before the genial holder of that
name won fame and hearts. Dean Neville one day
reminded Father Healy that Milliken, author of
‘The Groves of Blarney/ sang in 1798, while the
more national bards wailed for the ills of then-
land:

1 *Tis there’s the kitchen hangs many a flitch in,

With the maids a- stitching upon the stair ;

The bread and biske’, the beer and whisky,

Would make you frisky if you were there.

’Tis there you’d see Peg Murphy’s daughter
A- washing praties forenent the door,

With Roger Cleary and Father Healy ,

All blood relations to my Lord Donoughmore.'

Digitized by LjOOQle

DEAN NEVILLE

8 7

There was no priest more intimate with James
Healy than Henry Neville, who, while Dean of
Cork and Pastor of St. Finbars in that city, was
also Rector of the Catholic University in Dublin.
The rapidity with which he constantly flew from
Cork to Dublin, and vice versa , acquired for him
the nickname of Dean Swift, and sometimes of
Offenbach . Indeed, he is said to have once started
from Rome after an early dinner, and arrived in
Cork the following day. During the occasional
absences of Father Healy in London or some
watering-place, Neville always did his work at
Bray, even at a time when he was himself dis-
charging the duties of a parish priest in Cork. I
learn from the Rev. Joseph Burke, who for a
lengthened period was curate to Father Healy, that
Dean Neville would start from Cork after an early
dinner on Saturday, be at Little Bray in time to
hear the confessions of Father Healy’s penitents
that evening, and say his Mass on the morrow.
Healy was often heard to say that he considered
Neville the greatest theologian of his age. He had
been in the same class with Neville at Maynooth,
and knew him well. Long afterwards, when it was
announced that a concursus would be held for its
Chair of Theology, Neville, then a junior curate at
Cork, acted on a friendly suggestion to try for it.
He carried all before him with ease, and the ambo
from which he lectured became at once invested

Digitized by

Google

1 88 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

with the lustre of a brilliant intellect and the
prestige of a rare scholarship. Healy used to
speak of the tact with which he eliminated from
the school of theology at Maynooth all tinge of the
Jansenistic tendency which came to Ireland with
the French professors, who in 1795 mainly founded
the College. This in itself was a difficult and deli-
cate task. The achievement, however, I have heard
claimed rather for Father O’Reilly, the eminent
Jesuit. A sensation was created at this time by
Gladstone’s attack on the Vatican Decrees. New-
man published a reply to him, but, though afford-
ing a fine sample of style, it was not until Neville
entered the field that critics considered Gladstone
adequately answered. In 1875 the Archbishopric
of Cashel became vacant by the death of Dr.
Leahy; a great friend of Father Healy’s was in
Rome at that time, and one day received assurance
from one of the highest officials at the Vatican that
all had been settled for the appointment of Neville
to the See. This news gave great pleasure to
Father Healy. Neville continued to be regarded
as Archbishop - elect, but meanwhile a letter
reached Rome from Cardinal Cullen, who was all-
potential with the Pope, saying that Dr. Croke,
who had retired from the See of Auckland, New
Zealand, must needs be provided for at Cashel.
Dr. Cullen soon found that Dr. Croke’s public
policy ran counter to his own. The Cardinal

Digitized by LjOOQle

NEVILLES INFLUENCE 189

died within the next three years, and Dr. MacCabe
succeeded to the See of Dublin. In 1878, when
Cardinal Cullen died, Father Tom Burke, who had
surpassed himself in his funeral oration on the
great Prelate, sought Mr. Justice O’Brien, saying
that he but gave voice to the wish of many in-
fluential priests in hoping that Dr. Neville might
be Dr. Cullen’s successor. Neville, he said, would
change the whole situation. Father Healy, there
can be no doubt, thoroughly favoured this move.
Laymen are often useful in such things, and the
appointment to Waterford of Dr. Egan, who
belonged to the same coterie, was directly due to
Lord Emly.

Neville, though not filling the post of Vicar in
the diocese of Dublin, exercised by his great tact
and intimacy with Cardinal MacCabe a larger
influence in its management than any priest
belonging to it. If any cleric called on business
at the Palace, the invariable answer came that Dean
Neville was with the Cardinal, and his Eminence
must not be disturbed. These circumstances gave
some dissatisfaction, and with one section of the
clergy awakened alarm. They seem to have thought,
though not quite justly, that Dean Neville, though
honest in his aim, was capable of attempting and
accomplishing diplomatic intrigue. Nowhere was
Monsignor Neville more at home than with the
parish priest of Little Bray. • He was the dominant

Digitized by LjOOQle

190 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

spirit of a charmed coterie, which included Father
Tom Burke, the Irish Lacordaire, Dan Griott,
whose strong Cork brogue sounded sweetly in
Neville’s ears, and John Egan, D.D., who succeeded
Neville on his resignation as Rector of the Catholic
University, and in 1889 became Bishop of Water-
ford. All these priests were strongly Conservative
in politics. Dean Neville was not deficient in a
sense of humour, and someone said that at times
he was like Socrates in slippers. His mind would
often deign to deal in trivial memories. He had
some stories of his intercourse with the peasantry
of Cork when Pastor of Passage. Here is one
which Healy by his rare touch afterwards much
improved ; but I prefer to give it strictly in
Neville’s words, and it affords a sample of the
talk which went on round the fireside at Little
Bray:

* I met an old woman going up Watergrass Hill
one evening, who exultingly showed me some meat
and tea in her basket which had been bought with
the price of a fat goose she sold. 1 wonder,” said
I, “ that you wouldn’t prefer to keep the fat goose
for your own table.” “ If your reverence knew the
goose as I did, you wouldn’t say that” she replied ;
“ when I took the floor fifteen years ago, it was an
old bird.’” (‘Taking the floor* is a Southern
phrase for getting married). 4 “ What are you
laughing at ?” I asked, “ I’m hoping that who-

Digitized by CjOOQle

DEAN NEVILLE'S EXCLUSION 191

ever ates that goose to-morrow won’t be too near
the wall ” — meaning that in the purchaser’s effort
to tear asunder with his teeth and muscular hand
some joint or piece, his head in the struggle might
come with a thud against the wall.’

For years all hands pointed to Dean Neville as
the legitimate successor to the See of Cork, and
no man was more pleased by that recognition than
the venerable Bishop of the diocese, Dr. Delany,
who in letters to Borne put his claims strongly ; but
this desire of Neville’s friends, and what is thought
to have been the goal of his own ambition, was
completely foiled by unfriendly influences. Deeply
wounded, he gradually sank. That great brain
softened. Healy made a special journey to Cork to
see him, and on his return declared that Dr.
Neville’s state presented the most touching
spectacle it had ever been his lot to witness. Death
came at last, as his best friend, and he passed away
gently in his picturesque retreat by the waters of
the Lee. Father Healy felt acutely the death of
his old class-fellow, and for a time seemed to think
that his own might be the next.

. To prevent a false inference, it may be well to
say that Dr. Neville’s exclusion was due to no
canonical fault. Experts certainly said that he
was ignorant of the real science of theology ; that
his forte only lay in pointing out difficulties and
triumphantly dashing through them with the

Digitized by LjOOQle

192 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

prowess of a prize-fighter. But his exclusion seems
to have been rather due to an undisguised taste for
litigation in the past, and to the operation of
political influences. As a priest, he was sans peur
et sans reproche , but he had no sympathy with the
Land League, which in his day held Ireland in its
grasp and numbered amongst its most zealous
agents almost every priest outside the city. When
Neville died, Parnell was the uncrowned monarch
of Ireland. The condemnation of * boycotting ’ by
the Pope had yet to come. The reaction against
Parnell, due to disclosures in the Divorce Court,
had not then set in. All the parish priests in Cork
and around it were for Neville ; those who ruled
rural parishes opposed his claims. The then
Bishop of Cork was a Whig of the old school ; if a
curate attended a Land meeting, he was banished
to the end of the diocese, possibly to the ex-
tremest point of Cape Clear. Father Healy told of
this Bishop that one day, when catechizing children,
he asked who were the martyrs, and to his horror
received for reply, ‘ Allen, Larken and O’Brien, my
lord ’ — the three men whose fate earned the popular
title of the ‘ Manchester Martyrs.* ‘ The Bishop of
Cork spent yesterday with me, and spoke of you,’
Healy said, addressing a genial Judge. * I saw him
at the railway-station, but I did not feel sure if he
would like to be accosted.’ ‘ When he left my
house he was perfectly sober,* said Healy. ‘ What !

Digitized by AjOOQle

THE LAND LEAGUE

193

exclaimed the Judge. 'As sober as a judge/
responded Father Healy.

The agrarian agitation had been gravely marked
at intervals by crime, or what Bacon styles ‘ the
wild justice of revenge/ This, of course, was re-
probated by the clergy. But Father Healy, when
meeting clerical friends from the country, rarely
failed to hail them as Land Leaguers, and some-
times to administer hard hits. One day Dean
Quirk, a fine old patriarchal priest and advanced
politician from Cashel, called to see him. 4 How
goes on the Land League, Dean ?’ ‘ Latterly I

leave politics to my curate/ ‘ Quite right, Dean.
It would not do for you or me at our time of life,
and in this moist climate, to sit for hours on the
bank of a ditch with a gun in the hand watching a
landlord/ Father Healy was talking to a friend in
the street, when a youth came up begging alms ;
having received a penny, he scampered off, reveal-
ing in his retreat a very tattered apparel. ‘ That
is a nice cut of an Irish landlord/ said Healy.
4 How so ?* asked the friend. ' Because he has rents
in a rear /

In 1881, during the height of the ‘ No Bent *
agitation, Healy, chancing to meet one of the
Jesuit Fathers at the door of the Catholic Univer-
sity, commented on the genial weather then pre-
vailing. ‘ We will pay for it later on/ said the
Jesuit, foreseeing the cutting winds which soon

18

Digitized by CjOOQle

194 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

followed. ‘ Pay for it , my dear fellow !’ exclaimed
Healy ; ‘ don’t mention it ; we have given up that
sort of thing long ago/ adding from Virgil as he
shook his head, * 0 fortunatos nimium, sua si bona
norint , agricolas.’

* Shut out the subject of the weather, and you
destroy the conversation of half the world/ said
Shirley Brooks. The above was one of the many
occasions when Father Healy shared the general
habit of making comments on this topic. I have
known him to speak of the month of March, when
specially fine, as * a stolen March, a deserter from
the ranks of June.’

Cardinal MacCabe held the same political views
as Father Healy and all previous Archbishops of
Dublin from Troy down. Dr. Walsh, the highly-
distinguished President of Maynooth, on succeeding
to MacCabe, co-operated with Dr. Croke and almost
every other Irish Prelate in the National policy.
No English ruler had sought more energetically to
stamp out Irish agitation than the Viceroy, Lord
Spencer, and his Chief Secretary, Mr. Forster, who,
after the arrest and imprisonment of Parnell and
half Ireland as ‘ suspects/ was recalled. One day
Lord Spencer, who had been denounced as a
Coercionist, surprised everybody by avowing him-
self a convert to Home Rule. Father Healy
chancing to be entertained by this peer soon after-
wards, a hope was expressed that the priest might

Digitized by LjOOQle

FATHER TOM BURKE

195

soon obtain some Church preferment. ‘ Now that
your lordship has gone over to the Home Rulers,’
was the reply, * perhaps you would put in a word
for me with my Bishop.’ Lord Spencer, when in
Ireland, had been strongly opposed to Archbishop
Walsh’s views, and the joke was so extravagant
that much laughter was occasioned.

In noticing Dean Neville’s relations with Father
Healy, allusion has been made to the latter as a
confessor. In the tribunal of penance he was kind
and patient, and he interpreted God’s law with
more strictness than, from his general character,
might be supposed. Dean Lee, the parish priest of
Bray, having asked him if he did not think St.
Alfonso Liguori was over-strict in his instructions
to pastors, he replied : * I do not think he is half
strict enough.’ In this answer one traces, perhaps,
Healy’s early ascetic training under the Lazarites.
These instructions of St. Alfonso Liguori were
specially framed for the French clergy during
the great crisis of the Revolution.

Father Tom Burke, ‘the prince of preachers,’
as Pio Nono called him, has been mentioned as
one of a coterie who, with Neville and Meehan,
frequented Healy’s house twenty years ago. ‘ That
man’s brain is as full as a fresh egg,’ Burke said.
The great preacher had not the gift of repartee
like Healy, but he possessed a most striking
dramatic power, and in telling a story could

Digitized by

Google

196 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

imitate every accent and every class of life. But
the moment conversation became serious, one felt
the influence of a master mind, and listeners were
almost awed by the melodious toll of his strong,
ringing words.

Canon Pope will be remembered as an irrepres-
sible talker — one who made a monarchy of what
ought to be a republic. One evening when the
battledore and shuttlecock of wit took an unlucky
turn, and the subject of language and dialect was
started, Canon Pope at once seized the opportunity,
and went on to say, ‘ All languages, sir, may be
arranged in distinct classes or families, and the
relationship subsisting between the members is
obvious. We trace the variations in orthography,
inflection and conjugation from the parent stock.
Thus, the Indian Gothic family sends forth its
dialectic children in the Armenian, Zend, Lithua-
nian, Sclavonian, Teutonic, Sanscrit and Celtic;
the Semitic family contains the Hebrew, Arabic
and Syriac offspring. Primary dialects are divided
into subdialects ; three distinct dialects nestled in
the bosom of the Greek— the iEolian, Dorian and
Ionic. The brogue of Tipperary is an incipient

dialect, where by lengthening the vowels ’

‘0 Canon!’ interrupted Healy, who had been
long watching for an opportunity to give a pleasant
turn to this ponderous monologue, * Tipperary is
hardly the place to lengthen your vowels, for there

Digitized by LjOOQle

FATHER RING

197

they’d think little of knocking your two eyes into
one.’

He never failed to take a shot at monologue, and
would fain reduce it to a dead language.*

Father Ring, the eminent Oblate and Head of
that Order, went down to Bray accompanied by
another priest, intending either to visit Father
Healy or to dine with him — I now forget which.
On arrival at the Queen of Irish Watering-places,
they decided that it was too early to call, and, powr
passer le temps , went to Bray Head to bathe.
Father Ring, unfortunately, was taken ill in the
water, and returned to Dublin, while his companion
proceeded to the hospitable presbytery at Little
Bray. Healy listened with great concern to the
unpleasant and very disconcerting story, but, wish-
ing, as usual, to distil a drop of honey out of every
cup of bitters, at last said : 1 Bray Head was near
being Ring's End' t

* A learned bore, having talked a friend nearly out of his
senses, finally struck out on 4 the oyster,’ which he called
4 one of the most remarkable specimens of creative wisdom
extant,' when his friend mterrupted him, and 4 closed the
debate,’ with the exclamation, 4 The oyster ! Ah, yes, the
oyster is a glorious fellow : he always knows when to shut
up !*

f A harbour and village near Dublin, where the Holyhead
packet formerly landed its passengers.

A writer in Notes <md Queries (Second Series, ii. 815) sought
to give a modern origin to the name 4 Bing’s End ’ ; but so
far back as October 29, 1620, King James I., in a letter,
speaks of 4 the place called the Bing’s End ’ (Patent Bolls).

Digitized by LjOOQle

198 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

This, however, was not better than his geo-
graphical discovery of ‘Behring Straits in London,*
made at the time when the Barings fell into finan-
cial troubles.

He was one evening told a story that Canon
MacManus heard from his own Professor at May-
nooth, Dr. Russell, regarding a priest in Down
who had often been insulted by a low Orangeman,
who at last capped his insolence by threatening to
hunt him from a field he was crossing so as to
attend in haste a sick-call. The priest — a decided
humorist — was equal to the occasion. He knew
that the Orange bully was superstitious, so, putting
on his stole, he said, ‘ Now, sir, which would you
prefer to be turned into — a turkey-cock or a
buzzard?’ The bully at once took to his heels,
clearing dykes and ditches with marvellous agility,
and never annoyed the priest after.

‘ That reminds me,* said Healy, ‘ of a mauvais

8ujet whom Father threatened to turn into

a rat. The man scoffingly replied that he knew
better than to believe such nonsense, but, never-
theless, on his return home he thought he might as
well banish the cat.’

It was stated that an eccentric and unpromoted
priest had become a daily reader in the library of
Trinity College. ‘ What is the meaning of this
new move ?* asked one. ‘ I hear he is bringing out
a book,’ remarked Monsignor Walsh. ‘I don’t

Digitized by LjOOQle

A POETICAL INVITATION

199

believe it; he’s too well watched,’ exclaimed
Healy.

When he disported to amuse his friends, it was
like an improvised fantasia from the Abbd Liszt,
not the turning of an oft-repeated barrel-organ, as
was too frequently the case with Canon Pope. Some
people think, but wrongly, that Father Healy’s inter-
course with his fellow-priests did not extend beyond
a chosen few. ’Tis true that many priests whom
he knew and loved twenty and thirty years ago had
dropped one by one, leaving gaps which could not
be filled, but, as a rule, no man entertained more
priests, not only of his own diocese, but of remote
places, for Bray has been always a favourite resort
with priests on vacation. When Father Healy
heard of the arrival of one of whom he knew any-
thing, he at once called at his hotel and made him
fix the day and hour to dine. Priests with whom
he was very intimate were sometimes summoned
by postcard or wire, ‘ Victuals at five ’ ; if the
spirit moved him, a poetical invitation went. I
remember to have seen one to the Pastor of
Swords, naming a lot of presbyters whom he would
meet, including

‘ Boyle, who polishes his hat ;

The brothers Leahy— Jem and Pat.*

‘ Doyle, who polishes his hat,’ was a prominent
administrator who rode a good horse. It was said

Digitized by LjOOQle

200 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

that when Dean O’Connell, parish priest of Had-
dington Road, died, he had his eye on the parish,
and during its widowed state rode round it daily ;
but Canon Lee was appointed instead, and Doyle
got Donnybrook, encumbered with a heavy debt.

* Doyle missed the Road and fell into the Brook,'
said Healy. The latter village, when the site of
the famous fair, had been familiarly known by this
name.

James Leahy, Pastor of Sandyford, had got a
reputation for saying good things. He usually
alighted at Dundrum for his parish, while Father
Healy went on to Bray. When dining with Healy,
both spoke of some conversation they had a few
days before. ‘ Only the train was going off, I
would have turned back and said twice as good a
thing,’ said Leahy. ‘ It’s well you did not, James,’
replied Healy.

Father Healy, by his infectious but healing wit,
relieved his overworked fellow-labourers in the
vineyard, and in many cases prolonged their lives.
He once said that Erasmus was saved from death
by a fit of laughter, which caused an abscess in his
throat to burst that would otherwise have destroyed
him.

A well-known divine, when visiting the Alps,

* slithered down ' the side of a mountain, but
escaped with an ugly bruise. To localize where
the damage was done, Healy said, ‘he had left

Digitized by LjOOQle

‘ SUSPENDED PRIESTS ’

201

nothing but the baseless fabric of a wreck.’*
Healy’s persiflage was generally recognized as
wisdom on a holiday, and perhaps Thackeray’s
description of the humorist as ‘the week-day
preacher ’ would fit him very well.

Cardinal Cullen, at some great Church function,
preached on the advantage of an ascetic life and
the duty of self-denial. Father McSwiggan was
master of the ceremonies ; Father Eaton assisted
at the throne. ‘ There,’ said Canon Pope in a
well-studied joke, ‘ was the abstemious Cardinal
with Eatin and Stviggan at each side of him.*

‘ Oh, that’s nothing,’ said Healy ; 1 1 have seen
beggin’ and cribbin’ in the holy place.’ Beggan and
Cribbon were both well-known Vincentian Fathers.

Amongst those who returned the festive compli-
ment so often paid by Father Healy was Canon
Keogh, P.P., of Balbriggan. The night turned out
so tempestuous that the priests began to fear it
would be hopeless to get home. 1 I’ll put up a few
hammocks for you,’ said the host, using the sea-
faring language of the place. 4 We’ll be all sus-
pended priests in that case,’ remarked Father
Healy. +

* * And like the baseless fabrie of this vision
*****

Leave not a rack behind.’

The Tempest , Act IV., Scene 1.
f Canon Keogh made a great scene in Court by refusing to
be sworn on the Protestant Testament. Father Healy was

Digitized by LjOOQle

202 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

A great friend of Healy’s became a Bishop, and
it was predicted might yet be a Cardinal. 4 In that

case he’ll have to cut ,’ said somebody, naming

a layman with whom the Bishop had 4 chummed.’
4 If so, it will be cut and come again,’ said Healy.

Thanks to the munificence of the late Bov.
Christopher McCan, a much-needed church was
built on the City Quay, whose congregation largely
included colliers and coal-porters. Its patron
saint, Healy said, ought to be St. Coleman, and
its pastor Father Collier (afterwards parish priest
of St. Agatha’s), but the collections, he added, were
generally slack.

All who met Father James in social hours know
how thoroughly temperate he was ; but he liked to
see people around him enjoy themselves, and their
enjoyment served to keep alight the flame of his
wit. Sometimes it was his whim to startle matter-
of-fact friends whom he casually met out of doors
by some remark which might lead them to think
he cared not much for Father Mathew. A medical
friend from Dublin met him ascending Bray Head.

4 I’m going to dine with , and don’t you pity

me this hot day clambering over the hill ?’ 4 You

will find it worse coming back in the dark.’ 4 Oh,

of opinion that, the Anglican being substantially identical
with the Douay version, it would be held by Catholic theolo-
gians that a priest might swear on it in a British Court of
Justice.

Digitized by AjOOQle

THE TIPSY JARVEY

203

at that time I will be in a state to care very little
how I come down. A retort which I got the
other night has all but persuaded me that this
might be so/ he added, seeing that his matter-of-
fact friend seemed puzzled, and he then told a
story, of which the following are the salient points :
A cabman at Bray, who sometimes ‘ imbibed/ was
yet often employed by Father Healy, partly in the
hope of making him reform, and partly because
the man was a humourist. A local magnate gave a
gentlemen’s dinner, and Healy, having ordered the
cabman to call for him at ten p.m., was pained to
observe, on leaving the hall-door, that his Jehu
was not quite sober. ‘ Drunk again, Peter,’
muttered the good priest. ‘ Well, to tell you the
truth, yer reverence, I’m a little that way myself.’

He had another story of Canon John Harold, of
Bally brack, who, on being driven home by a jarvey
on a very wet day, gave him a glass of whisky.
‘What do you think of that stuff?* asked the
Canon. The man smacked his lips. ‘If your
reverence had some of that in the holy-water font,
you’d never have to lecture us on being late for
Mass.’

He was fond of joking on the national weakness
in favour of what he pleasantly styled ‘ the native.’
He himself drank only red wine. I remember his
saying to an eminent distiller at dinner, ‘ What we
want is cheap whisky.’ ‘ Until the duty is removed

Digitized by CjOOQle

204 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

it cannot be so/ replied the matter-of-fact distiller
to Healy. ‘Eight; we are too much devoted to
duty.’

A pious and fussy priest of slender abilities
officiated in an adjoining parish. ‘ That is a
perfect saint you have got for a neighbour,’ re-
marked a lady. ‘ Yes, ma’am ; he’s making a holy
show of us.’*

If Father Healy’s curate chanced to be tempor-
arily absent, the Padre would attend sick-calls
himself, often at considerable distances ; and he
never was known to say to him afterwards, as
another might do, ‘I attended a call for you at
So-and-so’s.’ The curate, when away on a well-
earned vacation, hearing that Father Healy was
not well, was arranging to return, when the Padre
wrote charging him on no account to abridge his
holiday. ‘ There’s a very good tether which will
bring him back.’ ‘ When will he be back ?’ ‘ When
the money’s out.’ It was a theory with Healy that
no book was a greater stimulus to activity than the
empty pocket-book.

The Rev. Patrick McCabe, afterwards Canon,
and parish priest of Glasthule, was affected from
boyhood by an infirmity of the knee. By great

* The allusion was to the late Rev. T. J. Dolan, Adminis-
trator Cabinteely, to perpetuate whose memory the in-
habitants, some years after his death, raised, in Dean's
Grange Cemetery, a Celtie cross twelve feet high.

Digitized by LjOOQle

FATHER HE ALTS COMMON-SENSE 205

exertions he built the beautiful church of St.
Joseph, at Glasthule, and a sainted friend, Vicar-
General in the diocese, observing that he looked
overworked, took him for a tour which necessitated
much walking. ‘ I protest I would not allow that
man even to walk at my funeral/ exclaimed Father
Healy. McCabe came home none the better for his
holiday, and died soon afterwards.

Healy’s common-sense appeared in many small
things. Before the use of feeding-bottles became
general, a Protestant lady waited on him to re-
present the inconvenience it caused whenever
‘nurse deserted baby and went to Mass/ Healy
replied :

‘If the nurse were thwarted in fulfilling that
obligation, it might upset her system and cause
still greater injury to the baby.*

‘ You seem to know a great deal about nursing.*
‘Well, ma’am, I never did much in that way
myself, but I have conversed with those who did.’
Father Coulan met Father Healy at Ballybrack
railway-station just as he was saying good-bye
to Lady Fitzgerald. ‘ You look as if you had just
delivered a sermon,’ said Healy, ‘ and, what’s more,
you look as if you had acquitted yourself well.’
‘If you were my curate you wouldn’t say that,’
replied the priest thus accosted. ‘ If I were your
curate, I’d tell you the truth.’

A Vicar-General of the Diocese of Dublin,

Digitized by

Google

206 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

addressing the present writer, said : ‘ In discussions
of difficult problems the opinion of Father James
Healy was often sought. With electrical rapidity
he never failed to see and go for their vulnerable
points, and by some quaint stroke of humour
dexterously hit them.’

‘ Great as he was as a wit/ observes Master
Mathews, ‘ it was as a sage full of sound, practical
advice that I really esteemed and valued him. It
was my privilege on repeated occasions to sit next
him at dinner, and his sound common-sense was a
boon and a blessing to hear. The wit was for the
table, the wisdom was for me, and personally I felt
myself deeply his debtor for counsel that proved of
real advantage to me.*

It sometimes happens that when money is sent
to a priest for the celebration of Masses, in the hope
of attaining a particular object, he may already
have so many Masses to say for other clients that
he asks some friendly priest, less likely to be pre-
engaged, to accept the money and say the pre-
scribed number.

A neighbouring pastor remitted to Father Healy
the sum of £ 7 , which had been sent to him on the
understanding alluded to, but as his hands were
full he asked the Pastor of Little Bray to do what
was right and proper under the circumstances.
Some time elapsed, and no acknowledgment came
from Father Healy, which caused the sender no

Digitized by LjOOQle

AN ‘ ENFANT DE MARIE ’

207

small perplexity, and, indeed, uneasiness, and it
proved a real relief when at last a postcard arrived
bearing the pregnant words, ‘ Country orders
punctually attended to. — Healy.*

The dignity of enfant de Marie is awarded at
convent schools to young ladies who can show a
specially good record. An imposing religious cere-
monial is gone through by the priest, and the girl
is duly admitted. One to whom this privilege had
been promised, returned, after vacation, to Loretto
School, Bray, and claimed its fulfilment. The
chaplain was away, and the matter would have
been placed in abeyance had not the young lady
sought Father Healy, who, though leaving by train
to keep a social engagement, kindly accompanied
her to the convent, and read with the impressive-
ness of which he was master the service that made
her then and there a * child of Mary.*

He took good care that all children of his flock
attended Catechism on Sundays. He would pass
from form to form questioning the little ones on
the Sacraments, their duties to God and their
neighbour, ‘ thus dispensing, drop by drop, to
those babes of faith,* as Meehan once said, 1 the
milk of an instruction, soft, simple, and suited to
their capacity.’ Out of doors he was more their
schoolfellow than their pastor, and children often
prattled with delight at the sound of his name.

On one occasion he felt it his duty to ask an old

Digitized by

Google

208 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

woman from Ulster, who seemed not very bright, a
few questions on the Christian doctrine. Pointing
to a crucifix, he asked, ‘ What Person of the Blessed
Trinity is that ?’ The woman went over very close
to the crucifix, as if the question was to be solved
by scanning the features.

It was about this time that he built St. Peter’s
Schools at Little Bray. A mission held by the
Jesuit Fathers in 1880, at the request of Father
Healy, was productive of much spiritual advantage
to the people of his parish. The confessionals were
crowded, and some remarkable conversions made.

‘ The world, of which he was the ornament,’
writes his late curate, the Bev. Joseph Burke, P.P.,
‘knew him and idolized him. But the few ac-
quainted with the beauty of his other and inner life
of child-like faith and tender piety revered him
and blessed him, not for his mental prowess only,
but also, and more so, for his hidden goodness.
The edifying cadences of his recitation of the
“ Hail ! Holy Queen,” after his daily Mass, and the
soul-stirring music of his Christmas - morning
preachings, still linger pleasantly in the mindful
ears of his congregations at Little Bray. His
cheery word, that so often sweetened the gift of his
open hand, is still treasured in the hearts of its
poor.’ Father Burke adds that he, who ministered
under Healy, or, rather, with him, for three-and-
twenty strifeless years, and knew him as none other

Digitized by CjOOQle

THE ‘ SOGGARTH AROON'

209

did, can bear witness that, times Jbeyond number,
he had discovered how the silent ‘ soggarth ’ at the
dying bedside in the lowly cabin had done

‘ Good by stealth, and blushed to find it fame.’

Thus we see that all the while he seemed to live
with the great he was the practical priest, the
‘ soggarth aroon,’ beloved by his poor flock, for
each of whom he always had a pleasant word
and a joke as he passed by.

14

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 2X0 ]

CHAPTER XII.

Social Intercourse Poisoned — ‘The Evangelist of Peace* —
Lord Randolph Churchill — Field-Marshal Lord Wolseley
on the Genial Padre — The Dinners at Little Bray — W.
Lysaght Griffin — Lefanu — Dr. Mahaffy — The Venus of
Milo.

In the years 1824 and 1825 a Parliamentary Com-
mittee of both Houses sat to hear the evidence of
witnesses on the state of Ireland. Dr. Doyle,
O’Connell, Sheil, Wyse, and others, were examined.
Hugh O’Conner, an eminent merchant, said that
he was about to leave Ireland for ever. ‘ Q. — Which
is the inconvenience which you peculiarly suffer ?
Is it the political disability or the inconvenience of
party feeling ? A. — I never sought for any place :
it is from social intercourse being poisoned. Q. —
Do you think that there are other Catholics dis-
posed to take the same step as you yourself are
inclined to do ? A. — It is natural to suppose there
are; I have heard many say they would leave
Ireland.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

IRELAND SEVENTY YEARS AGO

211

This testimony affords a touching picture of
the state of society in Ireland at the time James
Healy was bom. The good he helped to do in
softening sectarian prejudice, and breaking down
the barrier that bigots had built, was remarkable.
In what light a priest was viewed is curiously
shown by Sir William Gregory in his recently-
published Memoirs. ‘ I remember,’ he writes,

‘ wanting me to join him in throwing over-

board the Dublin packet two tin cases belonging
to some Roman Catholic Prelate. I asked him
why we should do such a thing, and his answer
was, “ Because he is a Catholic priest, and of
course a scoundrel .” 9 Many regarded it as a
grievance that such ‘ scoundrels ’ as priests should
be tolerated by law. The Times , in a memorable
leader, called them 4 surpliced ruffians.’ This
tone provoked retort. When James Healy’s mis-
sionary career began, the dead walls of Dublin, the
public press, and hawkers of pamphlets at every
street-corner, proclaimed from a prominent Irish
priest most bitter sentiments, polemic and political.
Parsons angrily challenged him to closer conflict ;
party spirit was aroused, and even Punch lost his
wonted good -humour by retaliating in scathing
terms. This priest, with stinging points and pen
dipped in gall, was regarded by Protestants,
but erroneously, as a type of his order. Father
Healy came as a revelation and a relief, and by

Digitized by

Google

212 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

one Conservative journal was described as ‘ the
evangelist of peace/

* The most noteworthy feature in Father Healy’s
unrivalled power,’ writes the man who knew him
best, ‘ was its singular merit of being solely attri-
butable to his own individual genius. He owed
nothing to the adventitious aid of fortune. As he
once said of himself, it was “ his luck to always
back the wrong horse.” He was no courtier,
although he was, when he wished, a man of most
courtly address.

‘ He was but a plain pastor in a rural parish
scantily dowered with this world’s wealth. He en-
joyed no professional prestige because of theo-
logical or oratorical pre-eminence — not that he did
not often, both as preacher and divine, prove the
excellence of his attainments ; and his sermons
were models of choicest eloquence. The happy
chance of circumstances, that sometimes comes to
make men great, never arose to lift him into great-
ness. By himself alone, by the sheer dint of his
own personality, despite his humble antecedents,
he achieved social prominence.

* It is well-nigh impossible to exaggerate the
importance of Father Healy’s beneficent action on
the society in which he moved. The younger folk
of the present generation can hardly ever realize
the amount of good he effected. It seems as if
Providence had assigned to him a special mission.

Digitized by LjOOQle

‘ AL WA YS THE PRIEST'

213

It appeared to be his proper vocation to surmount
by his suavity, and demolish by his sterling manli-
ness, the barriers of prejudice, which had, for ages
of inveterate ascendancy, ostracized his creed and
its professors. This he achieved by the valiant
upholding of his religion at all times. Before
everything, and above everything, he was always
the priest , as an observant Bishop was wont to
remark of him.

‘ Although he consistently eschewed all political
bias, he loved his country dearly. He was too
broad-minded in his liberality to reserve for “ party
what was meant for mankind/* We have seen how
he entertained at his humble table in Little Bray
(sometimes on fare so plain that only his Attic salt
could save it from the brand of meagreness) leading
personages of Church and State, Princes and Pre-
lates, peers and politicians, who nowhere else in
the wide world could find a common inch of
peaceful ground to rest on. As a famous guest at
one of these memorable repasts, the Papal Envoy,
now Cardinal Persico, afterwards remarked, Father
Healy was “ the only man living who could have
such a gathering.* * His genial presence and the
light of his beaming eye, like glowing sunshine,
fused every element, and shed a halo over every-
thing.**

* The Rev. Joseph Burke, P.P., St. Gabriel’s, formerly
curate to Father Healy.

Digitized by CjOOQle

214 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Men who had long viewed a priest with repug-
nance gradually warmed towards Healy, and finally
all but folded him in their embrace. This effect
extended socially. The lines of separation, which
in various circles had been severely marked, grew
more and more indistinct.

Lord Randolph Churchill became specially inti-
mate with Father Healy, and was constantly
present at his dinners, and the genial Padre often
spent the evening with ‘Randy/ whose pleasant
little dinners were invariably joined by the Duke of
Marlborough, his father. One evening, at Lord
Justice Fitzgibbon’s, Lord Randolph paid a subtle
compliment to Healy in a style essentially his own :

‘ It’s well for us Protestants that all the priests are
not like you / He often uttered cynicisms,* and
some persons looked grave, not knowing what was
coming. ‘ How so ?’ said the Padre. ‘ Because in
that case we’d all become Catholics/ replied Lord
Randolph. But, apart from the charm of his
manner, there was a general wish to become the

* Many stories of Lord Randolph's brusqueness are told.

‘ When he was at the India Office, a kinsman of one of his
titled colleagues was shown up to his room. The Secretary
of State was busy at the moment, and, just looking up from
his papers, said, “ Take a chair/’ He then went on writing,
and apparently had forgotten the presence of his visitor, who,
after restlessly moving about, at last said, “ I beg your pardon,

my lord ; I have come from my uncle, Lord 44 Then

take two chairs,” said Lord Randolph, continuing his writing.

Digitized by CjOOQle

LORD WOLSELEY ON FATHER MEALY 215

friend of a man with whom friendship was no idle
name. In this connection I cannot help quoting
some excellent remarks kindly addressed to me
by Field-Marshal Lord Wolseley, who has not
only won glory in the field of battle, but has also
gained laurels as a historian of his country’s cam-
paigns. ‘ I do not remember,* he writes, * any but
the ordinary stories of dear Father James Healy.
Good as his stories were, he was himself as a man,
as a friend, far better than any or all of them. It
was the spirit of the man, the genial good-nature,
refusing to think, still less to speak, ill of anyone,
the truly Christian instinct moving within him,
that caused him to be loved by all who had the
privilege of knowing him. As long as he lived, all
felt there was at least one friend to whom we
might go and tell our woes or worries with a cer-
tainty of finding sympathy and comfort. I admired
him for his great genial wit, that welled up and
bubbled over fresh and sparkling and without taint ;
but it was the kindliness of his disposition and the
warmth of his kindliness that endeared him to me.
All who know Irish social life, and what is com-
monly called society here, realize how much we lost
by his death. He was a link between the many
sections into which we Irish are unhappily divided,
and he had the moral courage — a rare virtue in
Ireland — to express his opinions very plainly, even
when he knew that his views were unpalatable to

Digitized by LjOOQle

216 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

the majority of his own cloth in this country. A
man of pure mind and pure life, he was an orna-
ment to the ancient priesthood he belonged to,
and did much to raise the opinion entertained for
his race by those who are ignorant of Ireland and
its people.*

It has been said that ‘ No reason, however clear,
no thought, however deep, no judgment, however
sound, can compensate for the absence of a warm
heart and sympathetic feelings. But these well-
developed qualities in Healy brought their penalties.
His sympathetic nature produced in some instances
an irresistible impulse to confide. A retired
military officer, with a historic name and heredi-
tary rank, settled down, in the evening of life,
near Bray, and was prone to discuss religious
topics from a strictly Protestant point of view.
In his frequent visits to Father Healy he was fond
of recurring to the past, and of dwelling on early
personal peccadilloes, and the Padre told Lord
Wolseley that he was at last obliged to be firm,
and say, * My dear Sir Patrick, if these confessions
are to go on, you must consult me professionally.’

His dinners were uniformly simple, * the feast of
reason * being their best attraction. Once when
Lord Fitzgerald and Mr. Justice Lawson dined
with him, they found on taking their seats two
very elaborate nienw Bet before them. The joke
lay in the fact that Father Healy had preserved

Digitized by LjOOQle

DINNERS A T LITTLE BRA Y

217

both as a souvenir of some brilliant banquets given
by the Duke of Abercorn. The Judges were
naturally surprised, knowing that Father Healy
was not in the habit of giving, nor could he afford
to give, so expensive a feast, and peals of laughter
rose when Lawson, on being pressed to have more
beef, said that, like Goldsmith, he was * keeping a
corner * for the venison.

During a homely dinner, attended by Lefanu,
Lysaght Griffin,* Nedley, Lord Monck, etc., the
host, in one of those anxious moments from which
even he was never quite free, expressed a wish
towards its close that it might have been more
ample. ‘ I have got an entire duck here/ said Mr.
Bentham, who was carving that dish. ‘ That must
be a drake/ promptly responded the host. This,
like the rest of his jokes, came like an electric
flash. Ladies, of course, were never asked to the
priest’s dinners. But he had stories of the ladies
he met at other tables. A doctor complained good-
humouredly that his host’s stories had made him
neglect his plate until the contents had got cold.
* I remember/ said Father Healy, * a great gourmet

* Lysaght Griffin, nephew of pleasant Ned Lysaght, and
son of the Bishop of Limerick, was constantly chaffing Healy,
sometimes by letter. ‘ I had an audience with the Pope/ he
writes from Rome. ‘ His Holiness was most gracious, which
encouraged me to say, “ I hope you mean to give a mitre to
Healy.” The Chamberlain, interfering, whispered, “ The less
you say on that point the better.” *

Digitized by LjOOQle

2 18 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

who, at a dinner-party, on being asked to take down

the Hon. Miss , a famous beauty, replied,

“ Pass her on to someone else, ma’am ; I don’t like
to be disturbed at my meals.* ”

Lefanu, the popular and portly official who a year
before his death wrote his Recollections, referred
one evening, ere the company broke up, to a Conti-
nental trip he had made with a party of friends.
4 1 was the only man of the party whom the fleas did
not bite/ he said. 4 That is very strange ; I always
thought you were a general favourite,’ said Healy.

The twinkle of his eye, like Buckstone’s, never
failed to tell, but, as one who knew him has well
expressed it, 4 It was not so much what he said, as
the way he said it, that so charmed one’s heart.
Served cold, many of his best things lose half their
savour. It was the inimitable expression, the
smothered fun in his voice, his soft brogue, the
kindling of the eye, which, as often as not, did the
trick/

Somebody mentioned an eminent professional
man famous for the perfection and variety of his
dishes, and that he was constantly in the kitchen
with his finger in every pie and his hand in every
pot : 4 1 hope he may not put his foot in it/ said
the Padre.

Father Healy’s dinners usually took place on
Saturday; first, because it was the only evening
he never dined out, and, secondly, because it was

Digitized by LjOOQle

1 THE MODEL OF AN IRISH PRIEST ’ 219

an evening that he was bound to be at home.
Dinner was served at five-thirty, and at eight he
would glide away quietly and return in an hour or
less. Everybody knew that during the interval
he was in his confessional consoling or exhorting
penitents.

‘ He probably at no time commanded more than
£200 a year — his parish was the poorest in the
diocese,’ writes the Rev. Dr. Mahaffy, F.T.C.D.,
‘ and yet by the large qualities of head and heart,
helped by a native fund of wit of the first order, he
made himself beloved and respected by his
parishioners, approved by his Diocesan, the centre
of a simple but large hospitality in his home, the
favoured and envied guest of the great, the model
of what an Irish priest might be. There waB no
question about his extraordinary gifts for conversa-
tion. He was far better than a teller of stories, a
preparer of smart sayings. Though he saw the
humorous side of things spontaneously, he could
not be called a humorist; he was essentially a
natural wit, who turned any chance topic that arose
with brilliant versatility to his purpose. ... It is
well to call attention, as a lesson in the exercise of
a dangerous gift, to the three qualities which made
him the model of a man of society. In the first
place, as I have said, his wit was spontaneous.
No man could ever suspect him of preparation. In
the second place, it was pure — a quality very dis-

Digitized by

Google

220 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

tinctive of Irish wit, and one which he asserted for
it when the need arose, not without sternness.
Thirdly, it was kindly, nor did he ever use his
power to hurt the feelings of any human being.*
Yet many a severe moral lesson was conveyed to
his Irish parishioners with this consoling flavour :
many a young man checked in doubtful talk ; of
course, many a weary and sick soul cheered by this
gift from a pastor who could say, with St. Peter,
“ Silver and gold have I none.”

4 He was never at a loss for a kindly word ; to
meet him in the street was like passing suddenly
into sunshine. ... At his simple house in Bray,
with the aid of a single servant, he would entertain
all that was distinguished in Irish society for rank
and for intellect. The feast was modest, but most
ample. The company might possibly have been
gathered together with much difficulty by a duke
or a millionaire. There was hardly another man
living who could supply the qualities of the host,
beaming with hospitality and sparkling with wit, at
the head of this incomparable table. Such losses
may soon deprive Ireland of its prerogative as a
land of delightful social intercourse/

* To Dr. Mahaffy’s remark I may, perhaps, add that
Healy never applied nicknames. One exception might be
made, but it was classic and complimentary. The wife of a
gentleman whose Christian name was Milo he spoke of as
* Milo’s Venus.’ He called the tiny daughter of Denny Lane
‘ Bureen,’ which is the Irish for a small rural lane.

Digitized by AjOOQle

‘ THE REMARK OF A MENIAL »

221

When gold poured in after his death to endow a
hospital, it was suggested by ‘ An Old Parishioner ’
that it should not be built in any of the low-lying
portions of Little Bray, but to secure the scene of
his pious labours and successes — a spot made holy
by his life, and in view of the ever-changing tints
of the beautiful Wicklow mountains.

Unspoiled by adulation, he was remarkable — as
young priests have often testified — for always
stopping in the streets to converse with them when
he chanced to meet one, no matter how previous
engagements pressed ; and he was no less noted for
the genial feasts to which he rarely failed to bid
them on such occasions.

One rude incident gave him some annoyance.
He was attending an office for the dead in a country
parish, and at its conclusion had put in a black bag
the ecclesiastical costume usually worn when sing-
ing a dirge. This bag he temporarily left at the
parochial house. Meeting a young curate at the
door, he asked him to fetch the bag. The youth,
regarding Healy as a swell, bridled at the request,
and, quoting a phrase which he had learnt at
school, retorted, ‘ Where is the servant you had
last year V ‘ It’s the remark of a menial, sir,’
replied Father Healy.

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 222 ]

CHAPTEK XIII.

Lord Fitzwilliam — Breakfast with Gladstone — ‘ Indulgences *
— Visit to Borne — A Bad Time in the Mediterranean —
Alexandria — Cairo and the Pyramids — The Dragoman —
Heliopolis, the Cradle of Healy’s Race — The Nile — A Plea-
sant Acquaintance formed — Luxor — A Treat in a Tram.

Shortly after Father Healy became P.P. of Little
Bray, Mr. Darcy, D.L., an important parishioner,
fitted up an oratory at Kilcrony, supplied it with a
set of very beautiful vestments, and asked Father
Healy to act as chaplain, which he did. In 1879
he begged of the Padre to be his travelling com-
panion on a long-projected trip to Italy and Egypt.
The latter was nothing loath to take a holiday in
such pleasant circumstances, and beneath the
aegis of St. Martin of Tours, as he said, made pre-
parations for departure.

During Mr, Gladstone’s first visit to Ireland in
1877, Healy had been introduced to him at Shilla-
lagh, the picturesque seat of Lord Fitzwilliam in
Wicklow. A brilliant conversation ended in the

Digitized by AjOOQle

A CALL ON GLADSTONE

223

statesman exacting a promise from the priest to
call upon him at any time he came to town.

Father Healy, finding himself near Harley Street,
at once remembered the invitation, and sent up his
card. He was rather taken aback, as he told Mr.
Blyth, when the butler returned, saying, ‘ Mr.
Gladstone is now very much engaged, and regrets
he cannot see you.' It subsequently appeared that
when the statesman read the name, 4 Rev. James
Healy,' on the card, he could not remember who
he was, and concluded that his visitor was an
applicant for alms or patronage ; but after an hour
he recollected all, and, with his usual energy, took
immediate steps to trace and to find him. Meeting
his supporter, Maurice Brooks, M.P. for Dublin, in
the lobby of the House, he asked him if he knew
Father Healy. ‘Will you forgive a short invita-
tion,’ replied Brooks, * and dine with me this day
to meet him?'

‘ Mrs. Gladstone and I have a previous engage-
ment, but if it can possibly be managed, the
opportunity shall not be missed.’

The surprise and pleasure of the guests were
great when Mr. Gladstone, at the last moment,
arrived. Someone noticed that he ascended the
stairs two or three at a time, and Father Healy
said it was characteristic of his progressive nature
that he should take three steps in advance when
other men would take one.

Digitized by

Google

224 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

A memorable evening was passed, and Mr. Glad-
stone, when leaving, asked Father Healy to break-
fast on the following Thursday.

Father James gave an account of the breakfast.

4 There were nine or ten other guests,* writes Mr.
Justice Murphy, 4 each remarkable in pursuit of
some particular subject. Father Healy felt amazed
at the knowledge Mr. Gladstone exhibited superior
to each, even on subjects in which they claimed to
be experts.

4 One of those present was giving to Mr. Glad-
stone an account of a recent visit to Italy, and
introduced the subject of indulgences in the Roman
Catholic Church. Father Healy, seeing that they
stood upon thin ice, made no attempt to skate on
it; but Mr. Gladstone, turning to him, said: 44 It
is quite true, Father Healy ; I have seen it myself.
I have seen written at the entrance to a cathedral,
4 Indulgences for 2,000 years to persons offering
so and so.* ” Father James, looking pleasantly at
him, replied, 44 And now, sir, weren’t you offered
very liberal terms? And if you entered into the
matter, you would probably find that you could
not be dealt with more reasonably in any other
quarter.” After a short pause Mr. Gladstone joined
in the hearty fit of laughter which this quaint
reply provoked.’ An Anglican divine who sat next
him mentioned that in Luther’s time indulgences
had been given for groats, but Healy was not to

Digitized by CjOOQle

VISIT TO ROME

225

be drawn into any serious discussion, and, to avoid
the risk and bitterness of polemics, remarked, * I
think they were dog-cheap at the price.**

The Prime Minister kept Father James to speak
to him when the others left, and on the priest
saying, ‘ I wonder, sir, how you get time and power
to keep up with all these gentlemen on subjects
that they pursue with so much labour,* he replied,
* Ah, Father Healy, I was not made up for you.’

After a brief stay in the * Modem Babylon,’ the
traveller proceeded to the Eternal City. He
entered Borne with feelings of the deepest interest.
God had once given her the empire of the world,
and all nations bowed down before her universal
sway. But what seemed to the priest her higher
destiny and glory claimed more especially his

* It is a matter of great doubt whether, at the time
described by the traveller, any conditions for obtaining indul-
gences were required, beyond visiting a particular church,
worthily confessing and communicating, and praying for the
intention of the Pope. There may have been irregularities
in Luther’s time, introduced by bad priests, who were hastily
supplied to succeed the good Fathers who died in legions from
the Black Plague. An indulgence does not remit the guilt or
the eternal punishment of sin ; but when sin and the eternal
punishment sometimes due to it have been removed by
repentance and absolution, a temporal punishment may still
remain, and it is with the latter that indulgences deal.

* It has been often denied that money was ever given, but
the Council of Trent alludes to abuses, and sternly prohibited
44 disreputable gains ” made from those who desired to obtain
indulgences.’ See Sess. xxv., 4 Decret. de Indulg.’

15

Digitized by

Google

226 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

thoughts. He was very much of opinion with his
friend, Father Burke, that her universal temporal
empire in the past but foreshadowed the wider and
more lasting empire which was to be hers as the
head and centre of God’s Universal Church. It
was a great pleasure to meet again Cardinal
Franchi, whom Father Healy had known in Dublin
four years previously, and who was now the Prefect,
or Head, of the Propaganda — a man whose active
mind daily went out to the ends of the earth, in
constant scrutiny of his great charge.

Healy had a bad time in the Mediterranean en
route to Egypt. In the midst of strange darkness,
he writes to his curate at Bray, ‘ Like St. Paul, we
have not seen the sun or the stars for three days.’
At Malta he suffered to some extent, but it was
only, as he said, a Maltese cross. It was a wel-
come sight when at last, entering the harbour of
Alexandria, Pompey’s Pillar lifted its lofty head.
Healy remembered enough of his Virgil, his
Herodotus, his Pliny, and his Diodorus, to find the
pleasures of the town enhanced by early reading.

Cleopatra’s Needle, which had once stood at
Heliopolis, and for centuries lay prostrate at Alex-
andria, had been removed to London the previous
year ; but the companion obelisk, since captured by
America, remained, and engaged some share of his
scrutiny. Hieroglyphics, however, were not much
in his line. Alexander the Great, Antony and

Digitized by LjOOQle

CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS

227

Cleopatra, opened up a well of thought, nor could
he forget that on this ground where Pompey fell
England and France had measured strength.

After a pleasant sojourn, during which he made
various excursions, he pushed on to Cairo, and put
up at Shepheard’s Hotel, where, after a day of much
activity, visiting mosques and Coptic churches, or
4 slithering down the Pyramids/ he slept well,
and dreamt of Sinbad and Abou Hassan in the
4 Arabian Nights.’

Most people know that, according to a term
familiar in Eastern countries, the dragoman acts as
guide and interpreter to visitors, but the phrase
rather puzzled Father Healy. When Mr. Darcy
and he were being hauled up the Pyramids by
means of a considerable amount of exertion on the
part of the guide, Father Healy suddenly ex-
claimed : 4 Now I know what is meant by the
dragoman .’

Mr. Darcy told me that one day, when looking
from the windows of Shepheard’s Hotel to see a
grand cavalcade of pilgrims pass returning from
Mecca, he was surprised to recognize, heading the
van and in advance of the camels, Father Healy,
mounted on an ass. His friend thought that he
cut quite too comical a figure, but greater men
than the Pastor of Little Bray rode on asses, and
Robert Louis Stevenson won unfading laurels by
his 4 Travels with a Donkey.’ The Padre, though

Digitized by

Google

228 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

rather sore after the first day, greatly enjoyed this
mode of locomotion. Napoleon, mounted on his
charger, had not felt happier, inspecting his vast
columns in the heyday of the Egyptian campaign,
than James Healy as he viewed the ‘ Petrified
Forest,’ the Tombs of the Khalifs, the Gardens of
Gizeh, or the Palace of Gezireh. But he never
ceased to be the priest, and was no unfamiliar
figure in the church of the Fathers of the Holy
Land near the Muski, or the monastery of the
Dancing Dervishes.

The grand incident of this tour was that already
foreshadowed, the pilgrimage to Heliopolis, the
cradle of his race, as he assured Lord Powerscourt.

Joseph’s father-in-law had been a priest of its
famous temple, and Moses studied in Heliopolis.
But, as the pleasant Padre casually mentioned,

* the Healys, like the M’Hales, flourished long
previously.’

‘ His ancestors were kings before Moses was bom ;

His mother descended from great Grana Uaile ;

He laughed all the Blakes and the Frenches to scorn,

They were mushrooms compared to old Larry M’Hale.’

That portion of his tour on which Father Healy
looked back with most pleasure was his journey
by steamboat up the Valley of the Nile, with ex-
cursions to Thebes and Abydos. The steamboat
expedition, with the return journey, consumes one
month. Thus ample time is afforded amongst a.

Digitized by LjOOQle

A PLEASANT ACQUAINTANCE

229

number of people who never met before to exercise
over each other the tests of Lavater’s system, to
choose for converse men who promised well, and
for friendship to grow gradually to a head. Father
James tried them all in turn. Some men were bo
dry that, if pumped, sand almost seemed to come
out, but others were like a flowing spring touched
by the rod of Moses. Of course the inevitable
funny man was on board, who dated the first
banking transaction to the time when Pharaoh got
a check on the Bank of the Red Sea crossed by
Moses and Son ; but funny men, like affable men,
often repel. Father Healy was fortunate in meet-
ing two genial Britons of great spontaneity.
‘They were brothers/ writes the Rev. Joseph
Burke ; ‘ both had obtained honours in the diplo-
matic service : one was charge d'affaires on a
political mission to Persia ; the other had achieved
fame from having written a book descriptive of his
travels in Southern America, where he had been
engaged in an official capacity/*

One day, as the close of their companionship
approached, after the friends had inspected Luxor,
which signifies ‘Palaces/ Father Healy invited
them to visit his palace at Little Bray, which, if
not equal in splendour to that of Ramses H., pos-

* Letter of the Rev. Joseph Burke, P.P., April 24, 1895.
Father Burke was for twenty-three years the coadjutor and
correspondent of Father Healy.

Digitized by LjOOQle

230 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

sessed more modem improvements. The invita-
tion was accepted by one of the brothers, who spent
a week with him.

It will be remembered that Mr. Darcy had
franked Father Healy throughout the length and
breadth of their travels. Both were very glad to
see ‘dear dirty Dublin again/ as Lady Morgan
chose to style it, and Darcy having sent on the
luggage by van, he and his friend got into a tram-
car which was drawn up conveniently at the
station. Just as the conductor was collecting the
fares, Healy, putting on the gravest face, but
unable to subdue the twinkle in his eye, magnani-
mously addressing Darcy, said : ‘ You must not
be paying all the way; it’s my turn now/ and
thereupon pressed two coppers into the conductor’s
hand.

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 231 ]

CHAPTER XIV.

The Egyptian Traveller entertained — A Budget of Stories —
More Bon-mots — Canon Farrell — Bennett Little — Knock
— Visit of the Editor of Punch — A Great Shock.

The distinguished visitor who came to spend a
week with Father Healy at Bray was shown objects
of local interest under his guidance, and heard
some quaint things the while. The old Chaplains
of Newgate and Kilmainham, Dublin, had touching
stories of the executions they attended ; but Father
Healy contrived to get hold of a somewhat
grotesque trait. A culprit, when coming out to be
hanged, was handed a glass of porter, from which
he carefully blew off the froth. Galvin, the hang-
man, asked why he did so. * I wonder a gentleman
of your experience could ask me such a thing/ was
the reply. * Did you never hear that the froth of
porter is the unwholesomest thing a man could put
into his stomach ?’

Healy’s guest remarked that the Irish practice of
offering to condemned criminals a pot of Dublin

Digitized by LjOOQle

232 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

stout was borrowed from England, where a tankard
of ale was invariably presented at Tyburn, and he
told a companion story. A sweep and a miller
were both going to be hanged. The latter, who
was an atheist, resisted the chaplain’s ministra-
tions, saying, ‘ Can’t you let a poor fellow alone at
his last pinch ?’ and would recoil from the sweep
whenever he came near him ; the latter at last said,
4 Have I not as good a right to be here as you ?*

It was about this time that Dr. Cross, J.P., of
Shandy Hall, County Cork, with the object of
marrying his governess, Miss Skinner, adminis-
tered slow poison to his wife, of whose murder, on
suspicion being aroused nine months after, he was
found guilty. 4 He acted with the refinement of
barbarity,’ said Healy, ‘ for before she was dead he
proposed to skin her.’

Shortly after Dr. Palmer was convicted in
England of murder, a physician in Dublin who
bore the same name, and acquired great publicity
from advertising his fee as five shillings, tendered
a car-driver sixpence for a long * set down.’ The
jarvey drove away, muttering, ‘They hung the
wrong man.* This doctor was nicknamed by his
brethren ‘ the crown solicitor.’

The Rev. Henry Marshal was an Oxford convert
to Catholicism, who in the fifties attained fame as
a preacher in Ireland. But he was also remark-
able for his great rotundity, Father Healy men-

Digitized by CjOOQle

A BUDGET OF STORIES

233

tioned that this priest, when engaging an outside
car, was surprised to see the driver put a cloth over
the eyes of 4 the baste,’ and, on asking why, learned
that if it saw who was getting up, the deuce an
inch it would move.

4 There is a car-driver at Bray/ he added, 4 who
remarked to me, as regards an Enniskerry lady of
considerable stoutness who often employed him,
44 She has fallen greatly into mait , your reverence.”
But probably the driver best known at Bray is
George Cullen. Mr. Lefanu always called him Paul,
in allusion to Cardinal Cullen, whose letters and
pastorals, signed 44 Paul Cullen,” were constantly
in the newspapers. One windy day Paul’s hat blew
off, and a brother carman wittily shouted to him,
44 Bedad, Paul, you were near losing your mitre !” ’

The Right Rev. Edward MacCabe, Bishop of
Gadara, succeeded Cardinal Cullen in 1878 as
Archbishop of Dublin. He was a man of ascetic
tastes, and not less rigid than consistent in depre-
cating the use of alcohol. If he noticed a tendency
to festive habits or fondness for society in any
curate, he was at once transferred to some thinly-
populated and remote outlying parish ; and one
who had been dealt with in this way was glad to
migrate to America.

A foreign priest, engaged in collecting for his
mission, visited Dublin. The humidity of the Irish
climate led him to try the fascinating influence of

Digitized by LjOOQle

234 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

the native antidote, and under its subtle sway he
was weak enough to call upon Cardinal MacCabe ;
the ascetic hierarch perceived his condition, read
him a severe lecture, and reported him to his
Bishop. This incident was mentioned at a Confer-
ence dinner when Healy chanced to be present.
‘ What induced him to call on the Cardinal ?’ ex-
claimed a priest. ‘ The devil, envying his happy
state/ replied Healy, quoting the well-known
answer in the Catechism to the question regarding
the temptation in Eden.*

'Father Healy told another incident, which to
any person knowing the parties was irresistibly
comic. It was at this time that the Education
Bill engrossed Episcopal attention. Cardinal Mac-
Cabe telegraphed from Dublin to a well-known
Suffragan Bishop of advanced age, ‘Will you
accept the Bill ?*

When the telegram reached the Bishop’s house,
its mitred chief was absent, giving Confirmation at

M . The message having been sent on, he

replied, ‘ I don’t much like accepting bills, but as
far as a hundred or so goes, it is quite at your
service.’

Healy said that Dr. MacCabe was deficient in
the real sense of humour. When going to Rome
in 1880 for the Cardinal’s hat, some friends sought

* It will be remembered that Father Healy quoted these
words before, but under utterly different circumstances.

Digitized by CjOOQle

LUNCH AN INSULT TO DINNER

235

to lighten the tedium of the journey by telling
pleasant ana . All were received by his Grace with
thorough impassiveness. At Mentone, previous to
entering the Mont Cenis Tunnel, where there is
always a great fuss on the platform, a porter, in
hurriedly trundling a truck of valises, met with
some sudden obstruction, and tumbled forward
head over heels. ‘ Dr. MacCabe,* said Healy,
* laughed for twenty minutes.’

Father Healy’s popularity and reputation for wit
were largely due to his unflagging flow of animal
spirits. Perhaps, if analyzed, some part of the
secret of his uniform joyousness of manner would
be found in the fact that he had a good conscience,
was a good sleeper, and made a jight substantial
breakfast. He considered, with Maginn, that lunch
was a bad compliment to your breakfast, and a
downright insult to your dinner. If asked by a
friend on whom he called at mid-day, 4 What will
you take Y the invariable answer was, 4 1*11 take my
departure.’ Whether his long fast was prudent or
otherwise is a question for doctors to determine,
but it had the effect at least of bringing to the late
meal a sense of keen enjoyment.

4 Have you seen B lately Y the Padre

asked a friend. 4 No ; he is pulling the devil by
the tail.’ ‘There are a great many doing that.
The devil must have a very strong tail,’ said
Healy. Apropos of this phrase, he told the

Digitized by

Google

236 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

following: A judicial personage entertained at
Ballybrack a guest richer in talent than in gold,
who had just been appointed Solicitor-General.
The little daughter of the host was vainly asked by
the guest to come over and shake hands. The
child drew back, and Mr. Solicitor tenderly asked
it to tell the cause of its terror. ‘ I heard papa say
to mamma that you were always pulling the devil
by the tail !* The feelings of the host and hostess
may be imagined.

Healy was the incarnation of fun ; his very
features, from their abandonment to humorous en-
joyment, had acquired at last such a peculiarity
that they seemed specially cast in the mould of
comedy.

The English visitor present during that memor-
able week at Bray was not the only Saxon who
went back with the impression that, if all Irish
hosts were like Healy, * the most distressful
country ’ must be a happy place to live in.

Father Healy asked to one of his pleasant
dinners Mr. Fitzgerald Lombard, of the Horti-
cultural Society, who, however, was unable to go,
but sent as a propitiatory offering a basket of prize
pears. This arrived just as dinner was about being
served, and the host announced to his guests the
welcome present. After the pie and pudding had
disappeared, one of the guests was asked what fruit
he would have, and modestly named an orange.

Digitized by LjOOQle

CANON FARRELL

237

* Here’s a man,' exclaimed Healy, * who doesn’t
know the difference between Lombard's treat and a
China orange.’ The phrase * All Lombard Street
to a China orange’ is one very familiar in the
City.

It was the same evening, and a large party was
present, including several Protestants. Canon
afterwards Monsignor, Farrell, when asked what
wine he would have, replied, ‘ I hear your Scotch
whisky has a great reputation.’

At once came the reply, quick as lightning, while
a decanter was shot across the table : * Go ! seek
the bubble reputation at the Canon’s mouth.’*

Canon Farrell had influence with Cardinal
Cullen, who sent him on some small diplomatic
missions for which he himself was utterly unsuited.
Farrell was the attached friend of Neville and
Healy, and in the interest of the latter urged Dr.
Cullen to give him a slice of Ballybrack, of which,
with Glasthule, Canon Pat McCabe was Pastor.

* It is the impression of one friend that this fine witticism
fell from the late Bennett Little, who was certainly present
with many other guests ; but Father Healy’s curate is posi-
tive in assigning it to his late pastor, and says that he can
almost see him at this moment shoot the bottle across the
table with the words above given on hearing the witticism.
Little may have echoed it for the information of those at the
other end of the table. This gentleman, an excellent after-
dinner speaker, was secretary to the Cavendish Club ; but he
left it after some years, and started an opposition club, which
led Father Healy to style the former the 4 Cut Cavendish.’

Digitized by

Google

238 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

McCabe had prepared to resign it, but complica-
tions arose, and the proposed change fell through.
It was not until fifteen years later that Father
Healy became at last P.P. of Ballybrack.

Two Canon MacCabes were parish priests in
Kingstown at the same time — Edward, afterwards
Cardinal, and Pat, alluded to above — which led a
witty carman to say that there was as much differ-
ence between them as between ‘ Solomon the
spectacles-maker 1 and Solomon who built the
temple at Jerusalem.

Father James was one evening dining at Kil-
crony, a house in which he had been specially
intimate, and the host and guest were desirous of
smoking, but were restrained by the presence of
the hostess, who had failed to follow her daughters
to the drawing-room. ‘ Go,’ he whispered, 4 and
join the dam-sels.’ The phrase sounded start-
lingly like something else.

This house had long been famous as a great social
resort for priests. One day the hostess said to
Father Healy that henceforth she had determined
to restrict her table to an odd one. ‘ In that case
I’m safe,’ he replied, 4 for I am the oddest priest
you know.’

Mr. Lane, the old gardener at Kilcrony, was a
quaint character, of whom Father James had more
than one story. This man had been to Knock in
the hope that its reputed efficacy in accomplishing

Digitized by CjOOQle

F. C. BURNAND

239

miraculous cures might restore him to pristine
strength. When his master, Mr. Darcy, suffered
from peculiar pains arising from gouty dyspepsia,
Lane was asked whether he would advise him to
try Knock. ‘ Well, sir, I’ll give you my opinion :
between man an’ man ’ (a favourite expression with
him), ‘ for boils or other outward ailments it can’t
be beat, but I have no faith in it when anything is
wrong with the liver.’ Lane’s theory was that for
sore eyes, or any ill that could be bathed in its
waters, the effect was wonderful ; but the way in
which he seemed to limit the power of the Divine
mercy had an irresistibly comic effect.

Tom Taylor died in 1880, and was succeeded as
editor of Punch by Mr. F. C. Burnand, a name
suggestive, in more than one sense, of ‘Happy
Thoughts.’ He visited Dublin, of which he gave
some account in Punchy and passed a little time
with Father Healy at Bray. The Padre found in
him a shrewd thinker rather than the screaming
farceur which some sanguine persons had expected.

4 Oh,’ he said, ‘ it’s no joke to find bread for six
by making jokes.’ Father James assembled some
pleasant men to meet him, including Dr. Nedley,
and Burnand, on his return to London, utilized
several of the Padre’s jokes and stories, and even
gave a pictorial sketch of him in one of Punch'*
social cartoons. He had become a Catholic some
time previously, and made no disguise of the

Digitized by

Google

240 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

circumstances which led to this change.* From
Dublin he went on to Killamey, and wrote to
Healy : ‘ I am here surrounded by Protestants, and
cannot help thinking that Ireland without Catholics
is like a dinner without potatoes.’

In 1880, when Sandymount Parish became
vacant, I heard from the Rev. J. J. Doyle, D.D.,
that his uncle, Dean Quinn, Y.G., had been
approached by Father Healy in the hope that it
might be possible to transfer him from Bray to the
suburban cure. Dr. Quinn, an austere man, gave
no encouragement to the idea, and the Rev. John
O’Hanlon, the erudite biographer of the Irish

* Mr. Buraand said that he had never given religion or
polemics any serious thought. He was very serious, how-
ever, about his work in Punch, and was always on the look-
out for material. He picked up the 4 Confessions of St.
Augustine ’ on a bookstall, and took it to ‘ 186, Fleet Street,’
thinking that perhaps something piquant might be found in
it. There an Anglican Bishop, who chanced to drop in, saw
it. * He concluded,’ writes a well-informed source, 4 that
Mr. Bumand was on his way to Borne, or why should he read
St. Augustine ? “ Have you really considered the step you

are about to take ?” he asked solemnly. 44 Very carefully,”
answered the professional joker, fancying the Bishop was
alluding to his projected irreverence. “Well,” said the
Bishop, 44 come to me to-morrow, and I will show you reasons
against it.” Burnand went, and the Bishop explained the
Anglican attitude to him. 44 1 shall now show you how weak
the Roman position is,” added the Prelate. Buraand thanked
him, but said he thought he had better go to Cardinal
Newman for the Roman position. He saw the Cardinal for
the first time, and that interview decided his course.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

A SKETCH OF FATHER HEALY

241

saints, whose merits had been overlooked by
Cardinal Cullen, received the appointment at
Archbishop MacCabe’s hands. Healy took occa-
sion to congratulate O’Hanlon, saying, as he
cordially grasped his hand, * After myself, there is
no man living whom I would be better pleased to
see here.’

The Dublin correspondent of a London Society
journal* furnished, on October 22, 1881, a sketch
of Father Healy, and described a scene of which
she claimed to have personal knowledge. She
was walking down Westland Row, she said, on
the previous Wednesday, when a salutation from
behind caused her to turn round. In a moment
her face beamed all over. It was Father Healy of
Bray, and he beamed also. ‘ One of the pleasantest
faces in life has Father Healy, and the most intel-
lectual, with firm mouth and keen and searching
eye, and as we walked to the station together I
thought what a nice portrait he would make. His
intellect is as bright as his glance, his converse
lively and full of wit, his hospitality proverbial, his
charity unbounded. No wonder that he is a
favourite with all ranks and creeds, and there is no
greater proof that he is so than the fact that, when
he got heavily dipped some time ago through an
unwise speculation, the money subscribed to release
him from his difficulties flowed quite as freely from
* The Ladies' Pictorial.

16

Digitized by AjOOQle

242 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Protestant pockets as from those of his own faith.
He is famous for his kindly hospitality, but his
entertaining is ever the simplest. The best people
dine at his table, but it is off a single joint, pre-
ceded by soup or fish — never both — and followed
by such fruit as is not to be bought for money :
rich, luscious, ripe — the produce of the hot-houses
and gardens of surrounding friends and neighbours.
His cellar is of the best, no inferior liquid blemishes
his board, and his cigars are such as remind one of
those to be had only in a cosy club not a hundred
miles from Waterloo Place, the members of which
have their own tidy little Cuban property, and
smoke the produce of their purchase to the envy of
many a more pretentious house. At humorous
story-telling Father Healy has few compeers, whilst
his ready wit, which never degenerates to vulgarity,
is ever keen and bright.*

The writer then proceeds to describe, merely as
‘ a Protestant tailor,’ the once well-known, but now
deceased, Samuel MacComas, J.P., one of the most
advanced Evangelicals of his day. ‘ He is excessively
anxious to convert the priest, we are told, and talks
at him and to him in a manner which one less
good-humoured might be tempted to resent. It
happened that Father Healy and Mr. MacComas
sat in the same railway compartment from Dublin
to Bray, in company with a fellow-traveller, who
was evidently one of the tailor’s “ set,” and whilst

Digitized by LjOOQle

FATHER MEALY AND THE TAILOR 243

the priest sat back in his corner and read his news-
paper, with great apparent attention, the two lay-
men carried on a religious discussion which was
palpably meant to be for the benefit of the
benighted Roman, who, if he were listening, cer-
tainly made no semblance of doing so, but, with
spectacles astride his nose, sat well behind his
paper. Hotter and more earnest waxed the good
men’s talk, and frequent reference was made to
Messrs. Sankey and Moody, and to the Salvation
Army, which the tailor designated as “ the Army
of the Lord,” expressing a fervent wish that all
Catholics could be induced to go and hear them
during their expected visit to our town. Well, in
the midst of the discourse, the train drew up at the
station, and of course the three men got out, the
tailor and his friend glancing anxiously at the face
of the priest to see if they had made an impression ;
but Father Healy, with a stolid countenance,
buttoned up his overcoat, tucked his newspaper
under his arm, and was walking quietly away,
when, suddenly, as though some thought had
struck him, he turned and touched the tailor upon
the arm. “ A word with you, Mr. MacComas,”
said he; and the good tailor elevated his pious
eyes, for he thought the work of grace had begun.
“ I wanted to say to you,” said the priest, “ that
when this army you were talking so much about
comes to Dublin, I hope you will get the contract

Digitized by

Google

244 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

for the clothing !” This was, of course, a home-
thrust for the indomitable Evangelical, but a week
later he returned to the charge, and fairly button-
holed Father Healy with Scriptural truths. “I
agree with every word you say, Mr. MacComas,’
said the good Father ; “ but there’s just one thing
has always puzzled me, and there’s no man can
help me so well as you. That angel, you know,
who stood with one foot planted on the sea and the

other on dry land ” “ Yes, yes,” said MacComas

in eager accents, “ what can I tell you of him ?”
“Well, just this,” said Father Healy: “seeing that
he must have been a tremendous big fellow, I
wanted to know how many yards would it have taken
to make him a pair of doeskins V' Often since have
I seen the priest and the proselytizer travelling
Bray wards, but severely avoiding discussion.’

This is too good a story to be suppressed, but I
am bound to say that the retort — at least the final
one — was not made by Father Healy, but by a
great friend of his, Canon Leahy. Healy, how-
ever, did not say this to the writer of the fore-
going when next they met, nor did he disclaim
either of the jokes imputed to him. The fair
writer was almost afraid that Father Healy might
resent such free use of his name ; but she was at
once put at ease by the good priest grasping her
hand with the assurance, ‘My dear child, I am
only too glad to be of the slightest use.' There

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE JUDGE AND HIS BROGUE

245

can be no doubt, however, that Canon Leahy is
responsible for at least one of the two retorts
recorded. Father Healy held that his friend’s best
things were said when angry, and this peculiarity
reminded him of the civet cat, which, according to
zoologists, must be vexed before the civet is taken
out of the bag, for the more the animal is enraged,
the better is the musk.

Like O’Connell and Chief Baron O’Grady, after-
wards Lord Guillamore, there was a famous Irish
Judge who plumed himself on his mellifluous
accent, thoroughly racy of the soil. He told Father
Healy that he had been to a wedding, and had
thrown a shoe after the bride.* ‘ You might as well
have thrown your brogue after her,* was the reply.
Sir H. Northcote, when on a visit to friends in
Dublin, having heard of this mot , declared that
Father Healy deserved the Victoria Cross for it.
Next day his hostess, observing Father Healy pass
her door, ran out, exclaiming, * Come in and obtain
the Victoria Cross.’ The laughing reply promptly
came that he had crosses enough every day of his
life.

* This custom is of very ancient origin. Among the Jews,
the delivery of a shoe denotes the renunciation of any right
or title in any person or possession. The family of Ruth
gave one to Boaz when he entered into possession of his
brother’s lot. The custom at weddings comes down to us
from Anglo-Saxon days, when the father presented the bride’s
shoe to her husband, who touched her with it on the head in
token of authority.

Digitized by

Google

246 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

The eminent Judge thus referred to, having
been raised to the House of Lords, where, like Lord
MacNaghten, the Scotch Law Lord, his accent is
always welcome, Father Healy said, with satisfac-
tion, ‘ There are two things you*ll never part with,
my lord — your brogue and your religion/

December 15, 1881, brought Father Healy a
great shock. Alderman McDermott, an accom-
plished vocalist and popular member of the
Strollers’ Club, had accepted an invitation to dine
with him on that day. He missed his train, and
the next one available failed to bring him to Bray
until dinner was nearly over. He told the servant
to fetch him some food to an ante-room ; and when
hurriedly swallowing, he sank back in his chair
and died, but not until Father Healy, hurrying
to his aid, pronounced over him the words of abso-
lution.

Digitized by

Google

[ 247 ]

CHAPTER XY.

From Grave to Gay — A Startling Telegram — Father Healy
and the English Doctor — Edward Guinness, Lord Iveagh
— The Prince of Wales in Ireland — The Orang-outang —
Rev. Samuel Haughton, S.F.T.C.D. — The Addition of
Cabinteely to Little Bray — Trip to America — Granby the
Comedian and ‘ A Kiss in the Dark ’ — Cardinal MacCabe
and the Canonry — A Hoax — Father O’ Dwyer — Lord
Londonderry.

Thb year 1882 was an anxious time in Ireland.
Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Thomas Burke
had been murdered; Mr. Justice Lawson’s life had
been attempted. All were friends of Father Healy.
In a weak moment, Cardinal MacCabe, who had
strongly denounced the Land League, was per-
suaded by Dublin Castle to admit into his house
constables for personal protection. Lawson lived
at Crinkill, near Bray, and fourteen policemen
formed his bodyguard.

One night when Father Healy was wending his
way home, and thinking of the narrow escape he
once had when mistaken for Judge Keogh, a police-
man, glad to recognize the ever-beaming Padre, and

Digitized by

Google

248 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

to vary the monotony of his midnight vigil, sud-
denly sprang from behind a tree, exclaiming,

‘ Beautiful night, Father Healy !*

* True ; but you might have kept that to your-
self,* was the reply ; and he got him to bed as
quick as he could, though not with as elastic a step
as before the salutation.

* Erin, the tear and the smile in thine eye/

sang Moore, who knew his countrymen thoroughly.
A tear was dropped for the men who had fallen ; it
was not long before a twinkle of humour succeeded.
During the height of the agrarian agitation, a
telegram — ‘ Don’t hesitate to shoot — Plunkett,
Dublin* — was betrayed by a dishonest telegraph-
clerk to a National journal. It was assumed to
come from the amiable Archbishop of Dublin, Lord
Plunket, a great friend of Healy’s, but had been
really penned by the Hon. T. W. Plunkett, a
resolute B.M., who had been applied to by an
officer of constabulary for instructions how to act
in a threatened emergency. The Disestablishment
of the Irish Church engendered a bitter feeling, in
which the Archbishop was supposed, but erro-
neously, to share.

One of the first warnings of failing health
occurred to Father Healy at Lord Cowper’s table
in London eleven years ago. But he sought to
make light of it, and, when successfully persuaded

Digitized by

Google

FATHER HEALY AND THE DOCTOR 249

to see a doctor, could not avoid indulging in some
of his irrepressible chaff. The physician thought
he detected traces of Bright’s disease, but could
not feel absolutely sure.

‘What do you drink at dinner?* asked the
doctor.

‘ When alone I take punch ; when I dine out,
wine.’

‘ How much punch do you drink ?’

‘ After the seventh tumbler we never count.’

In point of fact, as the reader knows, Father
Healy was most temperate.

It was at this time that Guinness’s Brewery
became a public company. Father Healy, having
casually made the remark in presence of Sir E.
Cecil Guinness, now Lord Iveagh, that he had
failed to obtain any allotment of the shares, was
agreeably surprised to receive next day a kind
letter from Sir Edward, expressing regret that the
time had passed when any allotment could be
made by the directors, but begging of him to accept
fifty of his own. On a subsequent occasion, Father
Healy raised a laugh by Baying, in presence of the
peer himself, ‘ Lord Iveagh and I are the two
largest shareholders in Guinness’s Brewery.’

Several things by Father Healy appeared at
this time in Punch ; and the following lines were
probably inspired by him. They are two out of
six stanzas accompanying a picture of Edward

Digitized by

Google

250 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

Guinness, now Lord Iveagh, in which he was de-
picted as ‘ mine host/ presenting a bottle labelled
£250,000.

* There was a munificent host,

At the sign of the Tankard, whose boast
Was this — that the poor
Never turned from his door
Without having sip and sup from his store,

And feeling as warm as a toast.

And, oh ! what a snug, cosy world it would be,

Were only all landlords as hearty as he I

* The name of mine host was Ned Guinness ;

He knew what the right use of u tin ” is :

To earn, save, and spend,

Bless the poor, help a friend ;

And they who dispute the more generous end
Must be the most miserly ninnies.

But, oh ! what a many starved mouths might be fed,
Were all landlords as wise and as kind as our Ned !’

During the visit of the Prince of Wales to Ireland,
in April, 1885, the civic chair of Dublin was
occupied by a strong Democrat, who, owing to
neglected early education, fell into the error of
doing several strange things. He constantly
boasted that he was a self-made man, which led a
political opponent to retort that he had relieved the
Almighty of a great responsibility. Just before the
Prince passed, the Lord Mayor pulled down a flag
on which the Royal arms had been emblazoned.
Healy’s comment was this : ‘ Instead of pulling
down flags, it’s putting down flags he ought to be.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE PRIEST AND THE OURANG-OUTANG 251

The orang-outang,* zoologists tell us, is the
nearest approach to man. At the time that
Darwin’s theory was at its height, and Tupper
sought to invest beasts with augmented interest by
improving the future of these creatures, the Rev.
Samuel Haughton, M.D., S.F.T.C.D., with a more
sensible object, and in presence of a very intelligent
auditory, lectured at the Zoological Gardens on
‘ Sinbad,’ a fine specimen of the genus, which had
just been purchased by the Society. The date was
August, 1885, during the Horse Show Week, when
visitors from every place thronged to Dublin. The
creature had been nicely combed and washed, and
presented a most interesting appearance. A rustic
visitor described him as a strapping fellow, six feet
high. When Dr. Haughton had concluded his
lecture, a stout priest from the North, advancing,
said, ‘ Sir, you have aroused in me the liveliest inte-
rest in this creature ; * and he then proceeded to put
to Dr. Haughton a number of questions, easier to
ask than to answer. Turning to Father Healy, who
that morning had breakfasted with the Council,
Dr. Haughton asked him in his own dry way if the
clergyman were actuated by benevolent motives
or what. ‘ He must be looking out for a cheap
curate, ’t was the reply. A group of priests at once

* Orang is Malay for man, or reasonable being, and
outang signifies wild.

f This humorous comparison of the ape to man is not a
novelty. Mr. Swinburne, in his * Studies,’ speaks (p. 84) of

Digitized by AjOOQle

252 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

began to laugh, and it appeared on inquiry that the
8 tout pastor had hailed from a diocese where the
emoluments of the curates had been recently
curtailed.

Father Healy, in reading his morning paper of
January 29, 1890, was surprised to see announced
the death of Sinbad, whose career had opened so
promisingly. The following obituary notice was
issued by the Society in its annual report:

‘It is with very great regret that we have to
record the death of the orang-outang, Sinbad,
on April 7. During his three years and eight
months of residence in the Gardens, he was a
universal favourite with all visitors, while his
engaging character secured for him the affectionate
regard of all who were more intimately acquainted
with him.’

The annual meeting of the Royal Zoological
Society was held in the College of Physicians, the
President of the Society, the Rev. Dr. Haughton,
F.R.S., in the chair. All who are acquainted with
the peculiar humour of this eminent man will not
be surprised by the tone of his speech ; but it need
hardly be said that the joke about the Catechism
was purely his own.

The President said no mention was made in the

4 such morally and spiritually typical and unmistakable apes

of the Dead Sea as naming a man of some mark, whose

Christian name, by a coincidence, is also Mark.

Digitized by CjOOQle

OYSTERS AND TYPHOID

253

report of a matter which was private and personal
to Father Healy and himself — namely, that at the
request of a respected friend in Donegal no effort
was spared to teach the orang the Catechism
(laughter), but those efforts proved unavailing.
It was true, however, that the orang died of
typhoid fever, and the case was the first on record
of an animal dying from a specially human
complaint. During the months of October and
November the typhoid fever was prevalent in
Dublin, and the wise man who managed health
affairs in Dublin, Sir Charles Cameron, announced
that we got the typhoid fever from eating oysters.
As he (the President) never lost an opportunity
of eating oysters, especially when he could persuade
a friend to pay for them, he naturally thought that,
if they were the cause of the typhoid fever, oysters
would be had for a halfpenny apiece before
Christmas. But he was told in the various oyster-
shops he frequented that the price of oysters was
going up rather than down, and it became evident
to his mind that Sir Charles Cameron had not
frightened the oyster-eaters. Accordingly, they
went on eating them, and didn’t get typhoid. At
last they sent the orang-outang, Sinbad, under
the care of a keeper, to a tavern, the name
of which he wouldn’t mention for £100, in
order that the animal might eat oysters. Sinbad
did eat the oysters, and died of typhoid fever.

Digitized by LjOOQle

254 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Afterwards he asked was the price of oysters
coming down, and was told no : they were twopence
apiece still. So that he was afraid there was some
grave want of faith amongst the public instructors
in Dublin about typhoid fever.

In 1886 a flower-show was held at Bray. Father
Healy, as a local light, helped to receive and enter-
tain distinguished strangers who had come long
distances. His hearty laugh and the responsive
outbursts might be heard around. * Are you an
exhibitor, Father Healy V asked the Prince of Saxe-
Weimar. 4 In a way I am, sir/ he replied ; 4 for I
have been making a holy show* of myself for the
last hour/

He often revisited the scenes of his boyhood.
Going down Thomas Street, he was saluted by a
respectable trader standing at his door, and Father
Healy, in his usual genial way, stopped to ask
after his wife. In reply he was told that the
lady had gone to the country for a little time.
* Well, I hope there will be a reconciliation soon,’
said he.

In 1886 Father Healy got the addition of more
than a cabin to Little Bray. On the retirement of
the Rev. T. Dolan, Cabinteely was added ; but this
addendum brought increased responsibility without
any appreciable temporal advantage. He called
upon his new parishioners, dropped into cottage

* A common expression with the Irish peasantry.

Digitized by

Google

A TRIP TO AMERICA

255

after cottage, and amid the detail of drudging duty
his cheerful joke ceased not to flash. Two boys
presented themselves for the rdle of acolyte. One
was small at the mouth, and the other very wide.
‘ Here we have the broad and the narrow gauge,’
said Father Healy.

Some rather pert youngsters were met. Patting
the head of a little boy, he asked him, ‘ What is
your name, my child V
‘ I’m only half a child, sir.’

‘ Oh, yer reverence,’ interposed his mother,
‘ that’s a way he has of saying he’s a twin.’*

1 If you want to know a man,’ saith a proverb,
‘ live with him.’ To travel with him for months is
another good test. Darcy was so charmed by his
experience of Healy as a travelling companion in
Italy and Egypt, that he sought, with success, to
secure him for a Transatlantic voyage. The
weather proved singularly unfavourable, and many
persons wore rueful faces, and caps which covered
their ears ; but, though affected by the mal-de-mer,
both quite looked forward to the daily ‘ movable
feast,’ of which Healy was the life and soul. From
New York they went to Baltimore, Washington and
Chicago. Their neighbour at Bray, Lord Monck,
who had been Governor-General of Canada, greatly
interested Healy in his account of the Dominion,
and I think gave him some letters of introduction ;

* Father Healy told this anecdote to Mr. B. Macnamara.

Digitized by

Google

256 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

but the grandeur and charm of Niagara were worth
all else. Its distant roar — audible in his bedroom
— lulled him to rest, and, though suggesting the
snore of an ichthyosaurus, came as a happy change
from the croak of the toad, the ceaseless whiz of the
locust, and the buzz of the mosquito, which had
plagued him in previous places. The latter
visitants, he said, had been described by an Irish
servant as ‘ the Miss Kittys.*

The following appear among some ana which
Mr. Robinson, of New York, has kindly sent me :
Father Healy, on hearing an American woman
declare that she could live nowhere but in Paris,
and that she clung to it, explained, ‘ Oh, I see, you
have become a regular Parisite.*

Mr. Robinson related another story : ‘ I was with
poor Matt Darcy at one of the Western stations
of the Union Pacific Railway, when the counter
in the refreshment-room was laden with a pro-
fusion of pies and small cakes. “ Haven’t you got
anything solid to eat? 1 ’ I asked a surly-looking
restaurant-keeper. “ Would you like some beans ? ,f
said this man in a cynical tone. I took the beans,
about a dozen, and made short work of them.
“ How much to pay ?” said I. “ Twenty-five
cents,” said he, or one shilling. “ What !” I cried,
" twenty-five cents for a spoonful of beans ?” The
fellow, however, not only insisted on his twenty-
five cents, but became insolent. When Matt

Digitized by UjOOQle

257

i A KISS IN THE DARK *

Darcy and I got back into the train, I told Matt
that I would pay that fellow off. “ How will you
doit?” said Darcy. “Just this,” said I; “when
we get to Boise City, I’ll send him a telegram for
which he will have to pay at the very least twenty-
five cents, and the telegram will run, “ Don’t you
think your price a little too high for those beans?”*
He was pleased with Montreal, and struck by
Quebec, but the manners and customs of the
American people were foreign to his previous ex-
periences of social enjoyment ; and it must be con-
fessed that he failed to regard the trip as an
unqualified success.

The voyage home was even worse than when
outward bound. The foghorn and the steam -
whistle joined their dreadful din. A hurricane
rose, and the officers of the ship told him that not
for thirty years had they seen so bad a time. The
great ship was driven by the fury of the gale past
Queenstown. i But,* he said, when he got on terra
Jirrna , * notwithstanding wretchedly bad passages
going and returning, I was not one day sick.’

A company of players, organized by a very clever
comedian, the late Mr. Granby, hired the Parochial
Hall at Bray, and announced in their programme
‘ A Kiss in the Dark.’ The parish priest, Dean
Lee, startled when he read the title of this play,
went down straight to the Parochial Hall, locked
the door, and put the key in his pocket. The

17

Digitized by LjOOQle

258 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

company were driven to the necessity of engaging
other premises, and then brought an action for
damages against Lee. The result appears in the
sequel. Father Healy was the first to announce it
in society.

‘ Did you hear that Dr. Lee has been mulcted in
costs to the tune of £16 5s. 7

* For what 7

1 For “ A Kiss in the Dark.” *

Father Healy told this story at the next clerical
dinner that he attended, adding with inimitable
humour, ‘ And, ugly as I am, I could have had it
any time in the broad noonday for half the money.*

This joke, as we see, was made among priests
who knew how exemplary he was in points of disci-
pline ; but if any such jest came from persons of
an opposite camp who possessed not the same
knowledge of his inner life, then it was that the
spirit of the ecclesiastic would assert itself.

One of his many friends, a lady of rank and
vivacity, who in this instance shall be styled
merely Lady Kilgobbin, sent to him in bad taste,
and utter misconception of the character of the
man, as a Christmas card, a picture of a French
Abbe imparting to cherry lips a kiss, not neces-
sarily of peace. He thus acknowledged this

missive :

‘The Rev. James Healy presents his compli-
ments to Lady . He considers her card

Digitized by LjOOQle

AN OFFENSIVE CHRISTMAS CARD 259

libellous, and has therefore placed it in the hands
of his solicitor/

A friend who chanced to be with him when the
card came, offered the weak suggestion that
perhaps it might be better not to resent it, as the
sender was a lady of rank. * But her offence is
rank, too,’* he replied, quoting from Shakespeare.

Father Healy had met this lady at the court of a
popular ‘Vice-Queen,* as a Society journal some-
times styles the Lord-Lieutenant’s wife. The
latter, when she next met Father Healy, made
some allusion to the card. He merely said, 4 So
you were in the business, too,’ and turned the
conversation ; but long after in London he ex-
pressed his estimate of the sender by asking, 4 How
is that hussy, Lady Kilgobbin ?’

Father Healy’s joke on the severe mulct which
Dean Lee had to pay came round to him, and was
not received with unmixed satisfaction. It is an
open secret that between the Pastor of Bray proper
and the Pastor of Little Bray a want of cordiality
for some years existed ; but this feeling belonged
rather to Dr. Lee than to Father James, whose
inquiries for his health during a prolonged period
of decadence were by no means few.

* It was once well remarked that the priest knows better
than anyone where 4 Danger’ is written up; and while he
enjoys a good skate on the slippery surface of wit, he will
keep off that part where the ice is thin between fun and sin.

Digitized by LjOOQle

260 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

In 1886 a popular local Peer convened a meeting
at Bray. It was held in the International Hotel.
Dr. Darby, observing Father Healy passing the
door, took him by the arm and persuaded him to
enter. Not recognizing the technical objection
that might be made to the priest of one parish
attending a demonstration in another, Healy
yielded, and proposed a resolution. The Peer was
a friend of his, and the priest, as a Bray man, did
not think that he would be out of place at the

meeting. Dr. Lee said that Lord , though

posing as a popular man, had really an Orange
heart, and he took advantage of the circumstance
that the meeting happened to be situated within
his parish and outside Healy’s to resent a technical
breach of etiquette which the good-natured priest
of Little Bray — anxious to oblige a friend — did not
at first realize. The Dean complained to Cardinal
MacCabe, who at once expressed displeasure, and
said that he had been about to call Father Healy
to the Chapter, but, owing to his action, had can-
celled his name. The rule of this hierarch was
short and stem. As a parish priest and vicar he
had been most successful, but in higher rdles he
disappointed many friends.

Father Healy was well aware of the real cause
of his exclusion, and felt it acutely. One day a
friend, who happened to meet him, said, ‘ Well,
Father Healy, how does the world use you ?’ ‘ If

Digitized by CjOOQle

A HOAX

261

the Church only used me half as well, I’d have
little cause to complain,* was the reply.

Previous to Dr. Lee’s appointment to Bray, he
had been Dean of Maynooth College and President
of Clonliffe, but he never took up his residence
there. Ecclesiastical honours were conferred upon
him in rapid succession. He became Canon, Vicar-
Forane, Archdeacon and Dean of the diocese, and
Vicar-General, under three successive Archbishops.
Lastly, a domestic prelacy came. During all this
time he continued secretary to the Board of May-
nooth College, a sinecure then worth about £200 a
year. Dean Quirk of Cashel, who was passing
some weeks at Bray, when coming from the train
with Father Healy and Canon Cahill, met the
Monsignore. It was a very inclement day, and
Quirk said to Lee, then in his seventy-fifth year,
‘ You should take care of yourself.’ * What has he
been doing all his life but taking care of himself ?’
said Healy to the P.P. of Tipperary.

A hoax without wit was played upon the Free-
man's Journal soon after. The following appoint-
ments were announced to have been made by
Archbishop Walsh :

‘ The Rev. James Healy to the parish of Bray,
vice Rev. Dean Lee, who resigns.

* The Rev. Charles Cuddihy, C.C., Bray, to the
parish of Little Bray, vice Rev. James Healy.

‘The Rev. C. P. Meehan, C.C., SS. Michael

Digitized by

Google

262 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

and John’s, to the curacy of St. Margaret’s,
Finglas.*

The editor, in a leader, dwelt on the resignation
of Dean Lee, and Healy’s succession to his parish,
also on the transfer of Father Meehan.

‘These two appointments,’ it was added, ‘have
well been earned, and will please Protestants and
Catholics alike. The two gentlemen mentioned are
specially distinguished for their social and literary
gifts, and, with the other recipients of the distinc-
tions announced, will sincerely be congratulated by
all who know them.*

A stir was created by these announcements, but
the journalist allayed it next day by an explana-
tion :

‘ We learn that the statement which we published
yesterday, detailing certain alleged clerical appoint-
ments in the Diocese of Dublin by his Grace the
Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, is unfounded. The informa-
tion which was supplied to us purported to come
from the secretary of the Archbishop, being accom-
panied by a card bearing his name and address.
The paragraph was printed by us on the faith of
this representation. It turns out to be a hoax, and
we have handed over the manuscript to his Grace’s
secretary, with the expression of our sincere regret
that we were so imposed upon.’

Though justly annoyed, and well knowing it to be
a hoax, Healy yet could not resist writing to the

Digitized by LjOOQle

FATHER a DWYER

263

Archbishop thanking him in strong terms for the
appointment, and expressing a hope that it would
prove merely the prelude to a better.

Father Healy had a sacerdotal neighbour in
Father Thomas O’Dwyer, P.P., Enniskerry, of
whom he told some quaint stories. A man who did
labouring work for Father O’Dwyer had a weakness
for drink, but he worked so well that the Father
did not like to refuse him the glass he coveted as a
reward. * Don’t you know every drop of this stuff
is a nail in your coffin?’ said the priest, as he
poured some from a decanter. ‘ While the hammer
is in your hand, yer reverence, you may as well put
in another,’ replied the incorrigible.

I heard in 1887 from Healy’s successor, the Rev.
M. Pattison, the following story : Father Healy had
told it at Dublin Castle, and, though he at first
enchained his hearers with a picture almost as
striking as the Resurrection of Lazarus after Luca
Cangiago, so great were his powers of humour that,
in dealing with a scene more likely to awaken
solemn thoughts, several of the Viceregal house-
hold all but fell off their chairs with laughter.
O’Dwyer had been for years in bad health. When
at last he seemed to die, and had remained for six
hours apparently dead, his curate brought the light
very close to his eyebrows, and proceeded to arrange
his head after the manner usual on such occa-
sions. To his amazement, Father O’Dwyer sud-

Digitized by LjOOQle

264 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

denly exclaimed, in the tone with which he had
often previously snubbed him, ‘What are you
fumbling with my eyelids for T

Dr. Hamilton, who attended Father O’Dwyer,
told me that he really seemed dead, but just before
final dissolution recovered a gleam of consciousness
very much as Healy described. He had long been
suffering from diabetes, and prolonged coma not
unusually attends advanced stages of that disease.

A visitor one day said to Father Healy, apropos
of his curate, who had just left the house, ‘ There
goes Father Burke, gone out to dinner in his grand
dress.* ‘ I’m asked for my ad-dre**,’ said Father
Healy.

The Padre’s Court costume was easily donned.
When going to one of Lord Londonderry’s levees,
he dropped into the presbytery at Westland Bow,
and asked if he could get his shoes blacked, which
of course was promptly done. He then started
straight for the Levee, wearing nought but his
ordinary walking dress. But Healy was privileged
to do whatever he liked.

His evenings at Dublin Castle at this time were
not only full of enjoyment to himself, but a source
of happiness to his cultured host. Lord London-
derry, in a letter dated April 10, 1895, pleasantly
alludes to ‘ his dear friend, Father Healy,’ adding,
‘ I have never met anyone so quick at repartee, and
yet never saying an unkind word.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

A DESCRIPTION OF HEALY'S WIT 265

The interchange of wit between Healy and Dr.
Mahaffy on these occasions was an incident to be
remembered, but, as already remarked, any attempt
to reproduce it would be like flat champagne,
for the very sparkle vanished with the circum-
stance that drew it forth. ‘ His wit defies descrip-
tion/ writes a brother priest who knew him well.
‘ The tradition merely of its infinite quality is all
that can survive. As well might the artist essay
to portray the vivid lightning as the reporter to
revive the light and life and beauty of the electric
flashes of his fancy. Of its nature, wit is always
affected by the circumstances that evoke it. It
cannot be divorced from its context without losing
its tone and colour and flavour. It takes its living
breath from the incident that quickened it into
existence; it fades and dies with the passing in-
terest of the moment that gave it birth. It must,
of necessity, be germane to its environment. The
surpassing excellence of Father Healy’s wit in-
tensifies the difficulty of retailing it. Being of the
most perfect order, it abounded in every best
element, but its utter spontaneity may be reckoned
its most distinctive mark. He never, like the ordi-
nary raconteur, led up to any of his utterances.
With the suddenness of “a bolt from the blue”
his thought shot forth, and often in swift succes-
sion, with the brilliancy of a meteoric shower,
followed the dazzling coruscations of his playful

Digitized by LjOOQle

266 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

humour, leaving the enchanted listener totally un-
able to tell whence it came or whither it vanished.’
Apropos of old friends, he never forgot them in
the dazzle or fascination of the new. ‘In his
friendships he was faithful with a devotedness that
was chivalrous,’ writes the Rev. Joseph Burke.
The daughter of an old friend was addressed in the
following missive ; she resided in the family about
whom he playfully seeks information :

‘ I used to know people of the name of ,

who lived at No. — , P P , London. Do

you happen to know anything about them? are
there any of them alive? I think the man at
the head of the house was named Henry, such a
bright, cheery, good-natured little man.

‘If you chance to know anything of him or
them, would you kindly let me know ? I’m a queer
fellow, but I have a regard for old friends, and I
don’t like to drop them or to let them drop me . I
hope this will set your pen going, though the ink
were a guinea an ounce, and make you do your
duty.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 267 ]

CHAPTER XVI.

Sir John Banks, E.C.B. — Bright Days in London — Bute
House — Historic Memories — Lunch with Punch — Lady
Salisbury — A Toss-up for the Mitre — * T hink not my
Spirits are always as Light.’

On a sunny morning when the Father happened
to be in London, and met Sir John Banks in
Hyde Park, the latter said, addressing his daughter,
4 Don’t you remember Father Healy ?’ 4 ’Twould

be no wonder if she did not,’ replied the Padre.
* I had a beautiful crop of hair when she saw
me last.’ Nobody at any time remembered the
alleged luxuriance. At Prague his hotel bill was
addressed 4 Signor Healy,’ and on an apology being
made, he said it would have been a far greater
blunder to style him Herr Healy.

A lady, who was privileged to say what she liked,
remarked to Father Healy, in presence of Lord
Morris: ‘They say you’re a great tuft-hunter,
Father Healy.’

‘Why shouldn’t I be? Look at my head* —

Digitized by

Google

268 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

removing his hat as he spoke, and revealing a
crown shining like a billiard-ball.

Both the conversations recorded above took place
when meeting Father Healy in London. He visited
4 town * nearly every year. Curran, when asked
what an Irish friend of his, who had just arrived in
London, meant by perpetually putting out his
tongue, replied, 4 I suppose he’s trying to catch the
English accent.’ In the same spirit, though with
quite a different turn, Father Healy replied to
Lady Leicester, who had said : 4 Of course you are
off to the Continent for your holiday.’ 4 Oh dear
no,* he replied ; * I rarely go beyond London.’
* How is that ?’ said Lady Leicester. 4 I come
here every year simply to renew my accent.’

Before the Embankment worked such a change
in Craven Street, which, from being a c\drde-zac y is
now a thoroughfare, Healy put up in that favoured
4 rookery,’ partly in compliment to his chum, Dr.
Nedley, who occupied the same house, and partly
in memory of Horace Smith, who made Craven
Street famous in an epigram :

‘ Near the top of the street the lawyers abound ;

And just at the bottom the barges are found.

Fly, honesty, fly, to some safer retreat,

For there’s craft on the river and craft in the street.’

Latterly, Mr. Blyth, of Portland Place, or Mr.
Bischoffsheim, of South Audley Street, hospitably
put him up. The palatial house of the latter is

Digitized by

Google

BUTE HOUSE

269

the resort of the best literary and political society
in London. Years ago, the Hon. David Plunket
introduced the priest to Mr. Bischoffsheim, and a
friendship for life was at once formed. His house
in Audley Street was interesting to Father Healy on
various grounds. In penal days it had been the
Portuguese Embassy, the chapel of which — now
a salon — had been eagerly used by Catholics ; and
at its altar Garrick married Eva Yioletti.

Here lived and died Lord Bute, the favourite
Premier of George HI., and the successor of the
elder Pitt, whom he drove from office. Bute
House, as it is still called, suffered severely during
the Wilkes riots, when the mob tried to wreck it ;
and Father Healy was much interested on being
shown by Mrs. Bischoffsheim eleven exits which
Lord Bute had astutely provided for an emergency.
Father Healy, luckily, was not the guest of Mr.
Bischoffsheim during the Trafalgar Square riots,
when Bute House lost one hundred and eighty
panes of glass, while the houses on the opposite
side lost not one — for a hostile mob in its advance
always sends its volleys before it.

This hospitable house Mr. Bischoffsheim usually
spoke of to his friends as the Bute Arms.* One of

* Other interesting memories were awakened by his
sojourn here. Next door (No. 72) Charles X. once lived, and
previously Louis XVIII. In South Audley Street resided
Paoli, Mallet, and Whitehead, and the Misses Berry, Horace

Digitized by

Google

270 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

his daughters was married to the Earl of Desart,
another to the Knight of Kerry. Father Healy
had rarely known a lady of more esprit than
Mrs. Bischoffsheim. An Austrian by birth —
Mademoiselle Clarissa Biedermann, of Vienna —
she soon acquired a mastery of the English tongue,
and could play on a word in her light repartee.
One of her letters to Father Healy reminded him
that he would be welcome as usual to the Bute
Arms . When he came in or out, he passed through
a line of lackeys, but this sort of thing was no
novelty to him. He made one stipulation with his
genial hostess : 1 When I come in after dining out,
you must let me go up by the back-staircase.’

He stayed on various subsequent occasions with
Mr. and Mrs. Bischoffsheim, both in London and
their charming residence in the Riviera. They
retain many pleasant memories of him, which are
embodied elsewhere, but one incident that occurred
at this time may be noticed here. A coachman of
his, whom Mr. Bischoffsheim rather liked, had been
hired by a stranger. He had only one fault to find
with him — he did not feed his horses. On the
moment, Father Healy made the following im-
promptu :

Walpole’s correspondents. Holcroft, the dramatist, worked as
a cobbler in this street, and in the crypt of Grosvenor Chapel,
opposite, sleep Wilkes, after life’s fitful fever, Lady Mary
Wortley Montagu, Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, and Ambrose
Philips, the poet lampooned by Pope.

Digitized by AjOOQle

AN IMPROMPTU

271

4 When a master on you dotes,

Do not change to serve a stranger ;

Or take his straw, and hay, and oats,

And let the horses eat the manger.*

His host had got a present of some Innishowen
whisky, on which he set store. The liquor, on
being submitted to Father Healy, at once elicited
the following impromptu :

4 Had Anacreon, who

Was the Grape’s best poet,

Tasted 44 Mountain Dew,”

How his verse would show it !

’Tis generally known
He to wine was civil ;

But had he Innishowen
He’d pitch wine to the d — 1.’

‘ What is your opinion of Lord B ?* Mrs.

Bischoffsheim asked.

* A charming fellow, plenty of the small change
of social conversation, but I never yet found a
sovereign or a five-pound note on the platter.*

Others vied with each other in securing Father
Healy as a guest.

‘ Once,* writes the Eev. Joseph Burke, ‘ his hosts
invited him, when a guest in a London ducal
mansion, to accompany them to Sunday service in
a leading Ritualistic church, urging their invitation
on the plea that it was “ so like his own.** The
pleasant Padre wittily excused himself by asking :
“ As I have the true diamond, your Graces, do I
need the paste ?” ’

Digitized by

Google

272 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

But probably Bute House was that of which
he was fondest. 4 Once/ says Mrs. Bischoffsheim,
* when he spoke of leaving, I said that he should
remain until he had converted us. He took this
as a general invitation.’

Priests, when travelling, are allowed to visit
theatres; but Father Healy, though he himself
possessed dramatic power, did not much care for
theatrical entertainment, and during his visits to
4 town ’ failed to use his professional privilege. He
has gone to the Derby, however, by road with a
pleasant party, whom he kept in exhaustless mirth ;
and he was once persuaded to spend an evening
at the Savage Club, especially as it was impossible
he could ever be scalped.

There were some interesting questions before
Parliament at that time, and Father Healy, having
applied to a leading official for an order, got word
in reply that there wasn’t room for a walking-stick.
4 There’s Bandy !* joyously exclaimed the Padre, as
he recognized Lord Bandolph’s figure crossing the
Lobby. The object was explained. 4 1 suppose you
got word that there was not room for a walking-
stick,’ said the future leader of the House of
Commons. 4 That’s a stereotyped reply, and we
all know what it means.’ He then applied direct
to the Speaker. 4 Who is Father Healy ?’ asked
Mr. Brand. Lord Bandolph, with his usual
brusqueness, replied, 4 1 did not think that there

Digitized by CjOOQle

LUNCH AT THE GARRICK CLUB

273

was a man in this House so oblivious as not to
know Father Healy.’ The Distinguished Strangers’
Gallery soon embraced the priest, and an evening
full of interest was passed.

The breakfast with Gladstone was memorable
enough. He was now invited to another and very
different meal, but one full of novelty and enjoy-
ment to a man fond of the society of wits, and
who always brought special zest to the morning
meal. Mr. F. C. Burnand kindly invited him to
lunch at the Garrick Club, where he was fortunate
in meeting both Irving and Toole. The meeting
of four such men together could not fail to be most
interesting and entertaining.

Healy called upon the wife of a distinguished
peer, who had gone over to Home Rule. In the
kindest manner, she asked the priest to take a seat
in her open carriage as it drove in Hyde Park. * It
is so pleasant to have you here,’ she said, * for,

owing to Lord ’s politics, we are quite tabooed.’

‘ I am in that position now that I can afford to
go anywhere,’ was the humourist’s rejoinder.

‘Father Healy was as well known in London as in
Dublin,’ observes Mr. Carson, M.P. Mr. Blyth,
his hospitable host in Portland Place, says that
the number of cards of invitation which came was
marvellous. ‘ Tell me what evening you wish me
to dine at home, and all else shall be cancelled,’
he would say.

18

Digitized by CjOOQle

274 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

He often lunched with Lady Salisbury, in
Arlington Street. One day they were joined by
Mr. Gladstone, who having at length left the room
with Lord Salisbury, a twinkle in Father Healy’s
eye expressed an amused feeling of surprise. ‘Lord
Salisbury,* said the hostess, ‘ has, I assure you,
the greatest admiration for Mr. Gladstone, and he
lunches with us two or three times in the season.*
The editor of Vanity Fair seems to have met
Healy, too. ‘ His wit and charm of manner,* he
writes, ‘ made him an ornament in society, as his
immeasurable goodness made him an ornament of
his Church.*

But these qualifications failed to obtain for him
any important professional advancement.

When Cardinal MacCabe died, and left the
Diocese of Dublin widowed, two or three divines
were named as suitable to succeed. Sir John
Banks gave one of his pleasant banquets at that
time : Lord Spencer, Bishop Donnelly and Father
Healy were present. ‘ Is there any chance that
you may get the See?* whispered Sir John, address-
ing Father Healy. ‘Well, no,’ was the equally
confidential reply. ‘ I offered to toss up for it
with that fellow yonder, but he declined.’

‘I received great kindness in Dublin from the
Prince and Princess of Saxe-Weimar,* said Father
Healy to a friend at Carlsbad the year before his
death. ‘ The Princess asked me to dine on a certain

Digitized by LjOOQle

THE PRINCESS OF SAXE- WEIMAR

275

Saturday in terms so pressing as to be a command.
I was slipping away quietly at ten, when she followed
me to the hall, saying that they had asked friends
for the evening, and insisting on my return. I
replied that professional duties on the morrow
obliged me to go ; but the Princess said that I
could not refuse her a few minutes more, and,
taking my arm, returned with me to the drawing-
room. I rather collapsed on being presented to
Maria, Marchioness of Ailesbury, fearing that the
vivacious dame of seventy summers, and claiming
to be irresistible in her corkscrew ringlets, might
suppose it was for a dance ; and at the first con-
venient opportunity I was glad to slip away.’

It may be added that whenever Father Healy
was late for the last train to Bray, he always slept
at the house of his friend, Canon Quinn, in Dublin.

Late dinners never prevented him from being an
early riser. He often said Mass at seven o’clock
a.m., but on ordinary occasions at eight. His
curate describes him as a man of great practical
piety.

When Moore wrote his charming lyric, 4 Think
not my spirits are always as light,* he but expressed
the experience of every son of society. James
Healy — whether from the operation of some subtle
law of animal magnetism or from other causes—
was sometimes silent when people expected much
from him. We have seen how family cares, of

Digitized by

Google

276 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

which the world knew nothing, preyed upon him,
even to drawing tears.

* The heart that is soonest awake to the flowers
Is always the first to be touched by the thorns.*

I have heard a well-known diner-out remark
that, though he often met Father Healy, he never
heard him say a witty thing. The same remark
has been made by a masterly table-talker, Judge
Webb, Ex-F.T.C.D. Men with a flow of natural
spirits are liable to reactions ; but this latter ob-
servation applied less to Healy than to Father Tom
Burke. Mahony, better known as Father Prout,
was often most depressing in society, while Healy
was almost uniformly bright. Occasions there
certainly were when he did not shine, but they
were few as the stars which fall from the firma-
ment. He had heard the apothegm, ‘To be a
good conversationalist one must needs be a good
listener,’ and he recognized its truth, especially
when the conversation was by telephone.

‘ No man,’ says Chesterfield, ‘can improve in any
company for which he has not respect enough to be
under some degree of restraint.’

Healy, however, did not want to improve; he
was there as Nature moulded him, and his friends
were satisfied. If those vis-a-vis or around were
too thick to see a joke, he did not throw pearls
before them. An American once said shrewdly :

Digitized by LjOOQle

4 WAITING FOR THE PARROT'

2 77

‘ The joke is the handshake of humour ; one may
proffer it, but it is no handshake if the other do not
make it so.'

Then, again, if rough attempts were made to
draw him out, he did not always respond melo-
diously. ‘ That finely-toned instrument was not to
be rudely played upon.’ But he had more self-
command than Sothem, who, when angered by
repeated reminders to say something good, offered
at last to give a scene from * David Garrick,* and
pulled off the table-cloth with a crash.

I remember an occasion when the hostess from
the end of a profusely-spread dinner-table, round
which some fifteen guests sat, exclaimed, during
dessert : * Father Healy, you are not saying any of
your good things to-night.* I and others winced
when this was said, but Healy at once replied : * 1
am waiting for the parrot.* This bird always
occupied his place in the dining-room ; but, though
ordinarily most loquacious, was silent when many
strangers were present.

Such a hint as that given by Healy*s hostess was
a good way to seal his lips.

Theodore Hook hated to be reminded that
witticisms were expected from him. ‘ Do, Mr.
Hook — do favour us,* a hostess once said for the
tenth time. ‘I can’t indeed, madam,’ he replied.
* I am like that canary yonder, and can’t lay my
eggs when anyone is looking at me.*

Digitized by LjOOQle

278 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

It was a shrewd observer who said that wit from
a man’s mouth is like a mouse in a hole ; while
you watch the hole no mouse comes out, but by-
and-by, when no one is looking for it, out pops the
mouse, and scampers across the parlour.

Charles Mathews, as I have heard Hep worth
Dixon say, when reminded by an over-anxious host
that something pleasant was expected from him,
quietly left two sovereigns on his plate, and glided
from the room. James Healy has also been known
to depart prematurely — sometimes for parochial
reasons — but without leaving behind more than a
shilling for the butler.

A smart American lady, who was very anxious to
meet Father Healy, found him more thoughtful
than she had been led to expect. The following
dialogue was overheard :

‘ I don’t hear you saying any of the good things
of which we have heard so much.*

‘ I never say good things.’

* What ! never ?’

‘ Well, hardly ever.’

‘ If you were in New York, you’d be fined for
saying that.’

* Here I am re-fined. 9

‘ I consider it a greater virtue to know when to
keep silence than how to speak well,* says the
blessed Egidius of Assisi.

The Padre hated anything like double entendre ,

Digitized by LjOOQle

AN AMUSING REPLY

279

and has been known to leave the room when an
objectionable story was broached.

The latest piquant scandal, the man with two
wives or more, 1 the woman with a past/ or he
who made her a present, had no interest for that
vigorous, manly mind. ‘ Beware/ said Boudinot,
‘ of becoming a fluent talker. In a flood of words
some character will always be washed away,
your neighbour’s or your own.* Thus, per-
haps, we can see why Father James, on some
rare occasions, was dumb as a church-bell on Good-
Friday.

No man could better evade troublesome questions,
and at the same time satisfy the querist by a stroke
of wit. A pony which had grown old in his service
died, and a certain irrepressible dame asked him,
for the information of a company with strangely
mixed opinions, if there might not be a future for
animals.

‘ It’s only an Irish Parliament can settle it/ he
replied, to the infinite amusement of the guests,
who had no sympathy with Home Rule.

He was one day in the society of an eccentric
and pretentious lady, who, meaning to ask him to
dinner, said : ‘ Where are you dining to-day ?’

‘At So-and-So’s.* ‘To-morrow?’ ‘At M ’s.’

‘ And on Wednesday ?’ ‘ At Lord B ’s.’ ‘ What

of Thursday ?’ ‘ On that day I am specially booked

Digitized by AjOOQle

a8o MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

for the Royal Hospital/ A friend whispered to

him, ‘ Why do you allow Mrs. to catechize

you about your dinner arrangements T 1 Because
she knows very well that the only day I dine with
her is the day I am going nowhere else/

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 28 1 ]

CHAPTER XVII.

On Dogs and Cats — Archbishop Lord Plunket — Mr. Balfour —
The Coercion Act — Lady Leslie — Anecdotes — Monsignore
Peraico’s Mission to Ireland — The Prince of Saxe- Weimar —
Harrogate — Carlsbad — The Duchess of Montrose, alias Mr.
Manton — Mr. Parnell — 1 The Lot fell on Matthias.’

Healy was not very fond of dogs. Mr. Timbs, in
a popular manual, argues that men who love dogs
are of a kindly disposition.

‘ What do you think of that, my cat ?

What do you think of that, my dog ?’

ends every verse of a well-known song. But
probably the men who are thus driven to commune
with domestic animals do so in the absence of that
more legitimate society by which the Padre was
always heartily welcomed.

At last, however, a dog came as a gift from Mr.
Justice O’Hagan, on which, for the donor’s sake,
Father Healy set store. But one day, as the priest
traversed his parish followed by this animal, he

Digitized by

Google

282 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

was quit© put out of conceit with it by the remark
of an ill-looking dog-fancier :

‘ That dog would disgrace a ragman.’

‘ And sure enough,’ said Father Healy, ‘ when
sheep came through a gap into my enclosure, the
dog, instead of ejecting them, snivelled meanly into
a comer.'

Soon after, a poor parishioner was asked for a
pup of some promise.

* Oh, that would be too good a dog for your
reverence !’

‘ How is that ?'

4 He’s of that sort, if you only sthruck a match
he’d go for the leg of man or beast.’

Father Healy’s house having been robbed soon
after, he began to think that a dog of this character
would not have been out of place, after all. In a
newspaper of the day we find the burglary de-
scribed, and certain numismatic tastes revealed :

‘ DARING ROBBERY AT BRAY.

‘ Last night the residence of the Very Rev. James Healy,
P.P., was broken into, and money and property stolen.
Nothing which occurred here for years caused such a sensa-
tion. Amongst the missing property is a unique collection
of about £4 in fourpenny pieces. A full list of the stolen
goods has not been made, but it is believed that the total
value will be under JE10.’

He had canine stories for clerics as well as for
laymen. He once heard Bishop Conroy give a

Digitized by

Google

THE PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC KITTENS 283

peculiar grace with a quotation from Scripture
indicative of a dog wagging his tail, and he de-
scribed it with great unction. It is found in
Tobias xi 9: ‘ Tunc prsecurrit canis qui simul
fuerat in via et quasi nunctius adveniens blanda-
mento suse caudae gaudebat.’

It was suggested by his servant that he ought to
get a cat; but he said that perhaps a cat and a
church mouse might not get on well together.
The objection was overruled, and it soon became
noised in the neighbourhood that Father James
wanted a cat.

Meanwhile, a pedigree pussy kittened, and its
owner, a poor man, took the litter to the house of
Archdeacon Scott, Rector of Bray, and sought to
sell them on the plea that they had been in a good
Protestant family. He would not have them, and
the Archdeacon told Father James of the offer.
Some time after the fellow wanted to sell them to
Father Healy as beautiful Catholic kittens. ‘ Why,
you villain, didn’t you offer them to the Arch-
deacon as fine Protestant kittens?’ said Father
Healy, trying to look stern. 4 Sure an’ I did, your
reverence,’ was the reply, ‘but that was before
their eyes were opened !’*

* An old raconteur, to whom I mentioned this story,
thought it not quite new ; but that with which he seems to
have confounded it turns on an utterly different point. It is
related by Mark Lemon that when a former Bishop of

Digitized by

Google

284 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

I am indebted for this racy anecdote to the Rev.
Robert Stavely, B.D., Vicar of Killiney, who writes,
* I give the story as tradition hands it on to me.*
Father Healy told it himself, at Old Connaught,
to Lord Plunket, Archbishop of Dublin.

The Most Rev. William Walsh, who became
Archbishop of Dublin about this time, failed to
share the political views of his predecessors, and
was regarded in the eighties as a Prelate of very
advanced opinions.

Lord Monck asked Father Healy to meet both
Archbishops of Dublin at lunch at Charleville
House, Inniskerry. He replied that he had an en-
gagement elsewhere, but he would go to Charle-
ville if it were only to preserve peace between
them.

Soon after this, Lord Plunket’s son said to Father
Healy, * That was a good story Dr. Walsh told my
father of you ' 1 What was that V 1 He said that

Bristol held the office of Vice-Chancellor of the University
of Cambridge, he one day met a couple of undergraduates,
who neglected to pay the accustomed compliment of capping.
The Bishop inquired the reason of the neglect. The two men
begged his lordship’s pardon, observing that they were fresh-
men, and did not know him. ‘ How long have you been in
Cambridge ?’ asked his lordship. ‘ Only eight days,' was the
reply. 1 Very good,’ said the Bishop ; 4 puppies never see till
they are nine days old.’

* Letter to the writer by the Rev. Canon Stavely, B.D.,
first Canon and Prebendary of St. Michael's, April 24, 1895.

Digitized by

Google

FATHER HEALY AND POLITICS

285

you regarded my father as one of your parishioners,
and that you had no fault to find with him unless,
perhaps, that he was a little backward with his
dues.’

The joke was not so far-fetched, after all. Lord
Plunket sent long after £10 in aid of * the Healy
Testimonial.’

‘ To have no political views is in Ireland well-
nigh impossible,’ observes a writer in the West-
minster Gazette . * Father Healy managed to steer

clear of party politics, and be friendly with all men.
He was non-political in the best sense. When
men say that they have no politics, one may, as a
rule, assume that they are rabid partisans. But
Father Healy treated both sides with a certain
jocular contempt. “ What will Tim Healy be
when we have the Irish Parliament?” asked some-
body. “ An old man,” said Father Healy. “ I’m
glad this Coercion Act is safely through,” said a
well-known timber-merchant to him in 1887. “It’s
a good thing for your business,” said Healy ;
“ plank-beds will go up.” ’

We have seen how severe he was on Dean Quirk
of Cashel, a Land Leaguer. No one was more
intimate than Healy with Mr. Balfour, whose
policy of coercion was remorselessly carried out
in Ireland. Canon Keller, Rev. M. B. Kennedy,
Rev. Mr. Humphreys, and many other Catholic
priests, were prosecuted and imprisoned during

Digitized by LjOOQle

286 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

his administration. During a dinner-party at
Dublin Castle, Mr. Balfour alluded to the criti-
cisms of which he had been the subject in the
Irish National press and in public speeches.

‘Do you think, Father Healy, that the people
really believe I am everything that I am repre-
sented to be by their leaders and by the press ¥
‘ Well, to tell you the truth, Mr. Balfour/ was the
reply, ‘ if the Irish people only hated the devil
half as much as they hate you, my occupation
would be gone.’*

Some friends of Healy wondered that he would
venture to talk in this way to one whose rule in
Ireland was regarded by many as a reign of terror ;
but the reply they got was : ‘ If you only knew how
exquisitely gentle is Mr. Balfour’s disposition, you
might say anything to him.’

Father Healy’ s friends were of every shade of
political and religious complexion. Sir John Leslie
represented an Ulster constituency for years, and
held advanced Conservative views. He had a
residence in London, to which his family always
came for the season. Lady Leslie, addressing the
present writer, says : ‘ He came once to see me,
on the 12th of July, and regretted Sir John Leslie’s
absence, asking how he came to be away in the

* Father Healy told his curate that the words he really
used were, ‘ If they hated the devil half as much as they hate
you, they would be the best people in the world.’

Digitized by CjOOQle

LADY LESLIE

287

height of the London season. I answered, “If
you really insist on knowing, he is presiding at an
Orange meeting in County Monaghan.” Father
Healy answered as quick as lightning, with his
beaming smile : “ Am I not colour-blind where my
friends are concerned ?” * Lady Leslie adds : * Dear
Father Healy’s graceful wit was unwritable, so
indescribable. His bright grace of heart and
speech just sparkled like a diamond that had no
hard facets — that is the best way of describing his
talk — nothing heavy or laboured, so kind and
benevolent. His wit did not shine ever at the
expense of another.’*

During the time that the Protestant Synod sits
in Dublin, its streets are full of clerics, whom some
of their co-religionists facetiously style * fire-
escapes ’ and * sky - pilots.’ Father Healy was
about to enter a saloon-carriage at Killiney Station,
when, observing it nearly filled by parsons, he
seemed rather to hesitate. 1 Do come in, Father
Healy,’ said his Grace Lord Plunket, Archbishop
of Dublin. ‘I want to ask you a question.’ Father
Healy at once took a vacant seat which had been
made for him in front of Lord Plunket. ‘ There is
one of your cloth has come over to us,’ said the
Archbishop, * and there is some doubt as to what

* Letter of Constance, Lady Leslie, Hyde Park Court,
Albert Gate, July 28, 1895.

Digitized by

Google

288 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

orders we should give him.’ ‘ I'd give him the
Pledge,’ said Father Healy.*

Among brother priests he could be more un-
reserved as to the causes which often lead to
change of Church. On another occasion he said,
* The change is due to either Punch or Judy.’

The gardens at Old Connaught, once the resort
of William Conyngham Plunket, an illustrious name
in Irish history, are bright with flowers ; but they
were brightened still more when the Archbishop
gave one of his pleasant garden-parties illuminated
by the cheerful smile and electrical flashes of
Father James Healy. One day he is said to have
chaffed the Archbishop on his son having gone
over to Rome. This was true, his Grace’s son
having been appointed an attach 6 in the Eternal
City.

Another anecdote may be quoted as a sample
of the good-humoured feeling which subsisted
between himself and the most advanced repre-
sentatives of the Protestant Church militant.
Meeting Canon Neligan in a bookseller’s store,
Healy grasped his hand and asked him how he

* I was not present at this scene, but a friend who claims
to know the facts has furnished the account. Healy’s reply,
as above given, was also recorded by Lord Ashbourne in the
Realm, The doubt that arose may have been, not as to what
orderB, but what post they should give the applicant. Anglican
divines are usually satisfied to accept, without re-ordination,
a priest who conforms.

Digitized by LjOOQle

MONSIGNORE PERSICO'S MISSION 289

did. * As well as a grandfather can expect to be,
Father Healy.’ * Ah ! there is where you have the
whip-hand over us, Canon. We can never get
beyond the Father .’

Another day a fond father introduced his children
and his grandchildren to Father Healy, asking him
if he ought not to be a proud man. * I should be
specially proud,’ was the reply, * for I am the
Father of everybody.’

The mission of Monsignore Persico will make an
important chapter in future histories of Ireland ;
but until his reports to the Holy See become
accessible that chapter cannot well be written.

Soon after Captain Boycott, by the prominence
of his case, enriched our vocabulary by a new,
expressive, and historic word, Monsignore Persico
came to Ireland, on behalf of Leo XIII., to inquire
how far it might be lawful for Catholics to co-
operate in the policy and tactics of the Land
League. He had previously been to Ireland as
Visitor of the Capuchins, and, when an army
chaplain in India, acquired a command of the
English tongue — circumstances which, united to
his powers of diplomacy, made him well fitted for
his difficult and delicate task. He went every-
where, attended all meetings, was the guest of
Prelate after Prelate, heard all that every comer
had to say, for and against, but committed himself
to no opinion or even gesture, by which his views

19

Digitized by LjOOQle

290 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

might be known. In his cautious eye, however,
shrewd men said they saw a something not quite
easy to divine. At one time it was thought that he
had come round to the popular side, especially
when, at the end of a speech, he exclaimed, ‘ God
save Ireland !’ but he did not know that it claimed
to be a Fenian watchword. He dined by turns
with Unionists and Land Leaguers, kept his eyes
and ears open, but his mouth shut, save at
moments when it became desirable to support the
inner man. On one occasion he sat next Lady
Corrigan, who asked him what stay he meant to
make in Ireland. He turned the conversation, but
she brought him back to the point, whereupon,
joining his fingers in front as though at prayer,
and with eyes cast down, he answered, ‘ How long
I shall remain will depend on such circumstances
as may arise.’ To one man, who sought him
privately, he said, by way of encouragement, ‘ I am
de eye and de ear of de Holy Father.’ Ordinarily,
his motto was, ‘ Ouir et ne rien dire.’

The Papal decree, by which tactics previously
thought lawful were condemned, came as a thunder-
clap. Monsignore Persico became a Cardinal and
an Archbishop, and is now head of the Propaganda,
and thus exercises a complete control over things
ecclesiastical in Ireland.

Father Healy was much amused by the comment
of a carman on Monsignore Persico. ‘Hasn’t he

Digitized by CjOOQle

A JOKE IN ITALIAN

291

got an eye like a coortin’ hawk ?’ The Padre,
however, was as guarded in reply as Persico him-
self. ‘Never having seen one in that interesting
condition, I cannot say,’ was his answer.

The Monsignore was en route from Kilcroney,
where he had spent the previous day and night as
the guest of the late Matthew Darcy, and had his
valet with him. The Rev. Joseph Burke says :
‘ Father Healy had a deep-rooted objection to admit
any attendant to serve at his dinners except his
own housekeeper, who discharged generally the
multiple office of cook, butler, housemaid, and
everything. At this special dinner the Padre’s
objection was overruled, and he consented to allow
the Envoy’s man to be retained as a second helper.
During the progress of the repast, having eyed the
Italian servant’s foreign grimaces, he turned to his
master, and asked: “What is his name?” M.
Persico, with marked accent, replied : “ His name
is Donato.” At once Father Healy, with an air
of profound solemnity, and with strong Italian
emphasis, asseverated : “ Si non e vero e ben
trovato.” The old gentleman, hearing the remark
in his own vernacular, was evidently amazed, and,
so far from seeing the joke that was so apparent to
the company, seemed inclined to think his own
veracity had been doubted.

‘ Somebody told the Padre the following week
that the Monsignore had asked the Archbishop, on

Digitized by LjOOQle

292 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

their way to Dublin after the dinner, “ What would
Father Healy have done this evening but for my
Donato?” Father Healy naturally observed his
own servant was worth scores of him.’

Among others who met Monsignore Persico at
Father Healy’s dinner were the Prince of Saxe-
Weimar, Archbishop Walsh, and Lord Ashbourne.

When, on Monsignore Persico’s report, Rome at
last fulminated its decree forbidding ecclesiastics to
co-operate in Land League tactics, Father Healy
said to a popular hierarch : * We have fallen on
strange times, when the priests have to give up
politics and take to religion/

He continued to mark his respect for the civil
authority, and to follow in the steps of his first
Diocesan, Archbishop Murray, by attending the
Viceroy’s levies. Previous to one of these appear-
ances, he entered a tailor’s shop, pointing out that
the ends of his trousers were frayed, and requesting
that they might be turned up and pressed. This
was done ; but when writing his card at the table
in St. Patrick’s Hall, his nether garment, probably
shrunk from hard weather, revealed so much
stocking beneath that an Anglican friend suggested
that it would admit of being some inches longer.

‘ Oh, they are very glad to take us on our own
terms !* replied Healy, who well knew that he was
the only priest attending the Irish Court.

For some time he took to wearing a soft felt

Digitized by LjOOQle

FATHER HE ALTS WIDE-AWAKE

293

wide-awake hat, which his brother priests thought
might be relinquished for one of more dignified
cut. The daughters of General Sir Michael
Galwey, having met him in this garb, said, ‘ Oh !
this beats the Duchess of Devonshire’s hat all to
nothing. You should have called upon us to show
us the latest fashion.’ It was not seen after.

A tailor, in attending a clerical customer who
desired to be fitted, said : * This, sir, is a coat with
which you can hold any theological opinions you
please,’ showing him one with specially long skirts.
Father Healy’s coat was of a different cut. It was
short, with pockets at the side. A friend, who felt
privileged to offer the suggestion, delicately urged
that it might perhaps afford a greater amplitude of
skirt. ‘ It will be long enough before I get another,’
he said; but the witticism was not wholly new.
Father Healy was never fastidious as regards a fit,
and said that the best fit for a man was a good fit
of laughter.

He never forgot a friend, and, if one died to
whom he had been much attached, he kept vigil
on an anniversary fraught with mingled memories.
He had a great regard for the sister of the late
Rev. Ambrose McGarry, a nun in Loretto Convent,
Bray, who, like her brother, was early called to her
reward. As regular as clockwork Father Healy
might be seen, on the feast of St. Gabriel, wending
his way along the avenue which leads to the con-

Digitized by CjOOQle

294 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

vent, and then and there celebrating the Holy
Sacrifice for the repose of her soul. Miss McGarry,
when adopting a conventual life, took the name
of Sister Gabriel.

H.S.H. the Prince of Saxe-Weimar had been
Commander of the Forces in Ireland for some time
ere he made the acquaintance of Father Healy.
The Prince, at a dinner in Dublin Castle, not
knowing that Healy was in earshot, remarked that
he had heard real Wicklow mutton with the gravy
in it could only be found at one table — that of the
Roman Catholic priest of Little Bray. Hereupon
a cheerful voice was heard to say, addressing
the Prince’s aide-de-camp: ‘If his Serene High-
ness will be good enough to visit my hermitage, I
promise to show him not only the mutton, but the
gravy too.’ The informal invitation was accepted
on the spot, and the Prince made himself most
agreeable then and at subsequent merry meet-
ings.

On one occasion Father Healy invited to dinner
several members of the Viceregal Household. He
opened the hall-door himself, remarking to one,

‘ You'll take the potatoes;’ to another, ‘ You'U
carve the ham,* and so on. The fact may perhaps
be repeated, that he kept but one servant— Eliza
who cooked the dinner, and Eliza who served it.
The swell guests had, therefore, something to do.
But what would have been a bore to men of smaller

Digitized by CjOOQle

THE TURNING-POINT OF HIS LIFE 295

social status proved to them a source of rare
enjoyment. Such relief from the strait-laced
formality of a Court was simply too exquisite to
express.

* At such times,’ says Sir John Banks, * his
unflagging flow of wit was something wonderful,
his attention to every possible want unceasing.
He would be flinging coals on the fire one minute,
and opening a bottle of champagne the next.’ He
did what no other man could do. Sir J. Banks
asked him why he did not attend the Duke of
Abercom’s levies. * My mother and the Duchess
never quite hit it off,’ was the reply.

During a visit to London in 1889, he saw a
good deal of Lord Spencer and his accomplished
wife, who had been styled in Dublin ‘ Spencer’s
fairy queen.’ ‘But,’ said Father Healy, ‘she
seemed to me a good deal changed.’

‘ Ah,’ replied a friend sententiously, * we don’t
improve, like generous wine, with time !’

‘ Speak for yourself — I never felt in fuller body.’
And another day he said, in acknowledgment of
inquiries after his health, ‘ 1 have not felt so well
for sixty-five years,* which was exactly his own age
then.

But the turning-point of Healy’s life had now
come. He suffered from gall-stones and dyspepsia,
with derangement of the liver; he lost two stone
in weight. His dinners to friends, however, con-

Digitized by

Google

296 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

turned. These were at five and six o’clock, ac-
cording to their social status and habits. Whilst
entertaining guests, his face would light up with
joyous expression. His housekeeper described him
as seated in a chair, and groaning for an hour
before they arrived, his arm pressed on the suffer-
ing part, and with a face pitiable to behold.

The moment the knocks came, he was a new
man — the life and soul of mirth; and when the
last guest departed he would relapse into his pre-
vious depression.

His table was famous for fine hams, and if any-
one asked who was his purveyor, the reply came,

‘ Mary Healy.’ This was his sister.

Shortly before this time, the curate at Little
Bray had left Ireland for a well-earned holiday;
but Father Healy would not allow it to be abridged
by the summons which a fussy friend was about
to despatch, notwithstanding that an immediate
change had been prescribed for himself.

Father Healy in due time went to Harrogate.
Dr. Cruise was there the same week. One morn-
ing, just as the band had struck up its liveliest
strains, by the old sulphur well, who should enter
the pump-room but Father Healy! When the first
pleasant flashes of recognition had passed, Healy
asked Cruise where he was staying. ‘At the
Crown Hotel ; and where do you stop ?’ ‘ At the

half-crown one,’ meaning the White Hart, whose

Digitized by LjOOQle

AT CARLSBAD

297

tariff was less than the Crown. At this point both
were joined in the Pump-room by a new arrival,
and Father Healy asked him what waters he was
taking. * None whatever ; I came here merely for
change of scene.’ ‘In other words, you leave well
alone ?’ In a moment the Padre was off, but fresh
faces soon encircled him, all beaming beneath the
rays of the morning sun, as he might indeed be
styled.

No man knows what he is until he has suffered,
and Father James was glad to gain new knowledge.
He came home not much improved. Dr. Nedley,
previous to sending him to Carlsbad, examined the
anxious sufferer, and heard a statement of all
his symptoms and the opinions of some English
doctors whom he had consulted. ‘ I think my
liver is the seat of suffering,’ he said. ‘ I think it
is the colon,’ said his physician. ‘I wish you’d
put a full-stop to it,’ was his ready rejoinder.

In appearance he had been stout and burly. A
post-card from Carlsbad informed a friend (Canon
Keon) that * he was shrunk to the size of a curate.’
A card to Dr. Nedley said that ‘ he really felt very
well though eating very little.’ He was fortunate
in having as a companion the Hon. David Plunket,
who accompanied him to Carlsbad.

During his absence, his house at Bray was
occupied, on his invitation, by Margaret, Baroness
Sandhurst, and the Bight Hon. James Stansfeld,

Digitized by

Google

298 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

her husband. The Corporation joined in the com-
pliment by conferring the freedom of Dublin on
both in acknowledgment * of the beneficent in-
fluence they had shed on public life.’

Exercise in the open air is probably the best cure
at Carlsbad. Father Healy, on mounting to the
precipitous crags overhanging the town, saw with
surprise the great cloud which rises from the vast
reservoir of natural water in a state of perpetual
boil, and, as he was informed, liable to produce
earthquake if the holes, which are made for safety-
valves, should become clogged or neglected to be
rebored. These terrors he sought to forget in
pleasant social intercourse.

It is no wonder that in the most aristocratic
watering-place in Europe, with its eight thousand
visitors during the season, Healy should have met
distinguished and pleasant people. An old friend,
the Bishop of Canea, having called, found some
visitors with him. ‘ Who is the lady who spoke so
volubly?’ he asked some time after she had left
the room. ‘Mr. Manton,’ was the reply. ‘No,
no,’ said the Bishop ; ‘ I mean the elderly lady
with the red face, auburn hair, and diamonds.*
‘You mean, What is her name in religion?’ pro-
ceeded the humourist, affecting not to understand,
and alluding to the name that nuns take at their
solemn profession. A more direct question from
the Bishop elicited the fact that this lady was the

Digitized by CjOOQle

'MR. MANTON'

299

Duchess of Montrose and Marchioness of Graham
and Buchanan — well known in sporting circles as
‘Mr. Manton,’ under which name she constantly
entered horses to compete for some of the best
plates. It may be added that Manton was the
name of the place in Lincolnshire where her horses
were trained. As the Duchess was better known
in the paddock than in the Park, something more
about her may be acceptable. She had been intro-
duced to Father Healy by Mrs. Bischoffsheim, and
the Duchess in turn presented her husband to the
Padre. This introduction took place in the street
at Carlsbad.

Father Healy told stories of her Grace, whom
he afterwards met at Neuenberg. ‘ She asked me
what I thought of Lady Grey’s appearance, which
of course I heartily praised. The Duchess must
have been jealous of her, for she replied with bitter-
ness, “ I differ with you utterly ; she has a hard
eye, like nails.” ’*

The Duchess, who was a daughter of Lord Decies,
became a widow in 1872, and, instead of sinking

* This is a horsy phrase ; perhaps the Duchess meant ‘ a
wall eye,’ known to jockeys as one that has * a good deal of
white in it.' Apropos of this phrase, I remember at Clan-
gowes, during some building operations, that a man standing
under the ladder complained that a bit of brick fell into his
eye, owing to the slovenly way in which the mason handled
his trowel. * Here’s a lump of fresh mortar,’ was the heart-
less reply ; * and now you'll have a wall eye.*

Digitized by

Google

300 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

beneath the turf with grief at her great loss, took
to it as a stimulus and for occupation. The
family seat, Buchanan Castle, was occupied by her
son, and the Dowager-Duchess passed a good deal
of time at Carlsbad and Monte Carlo. Here she
tried her hand boldly at the tables, but not with
success. In dress she evinced little taste, crowding
on her person gaudy and unsuitable colours. She
at last sold off her horses ; the family pictures went
next.

Her death followed close on that of Father
Healy. In May, 1895, her wines, silver, and
jewels came to the hammer. The silver naturally
included racing trophies, besides silver table furni-
ture. Among the jewels was a magnificent pearl
necklace, and the diamond ornaments included a
tiara. The Duchess possessed some good works of
art, porcelain, and decorative furniture. A recent
announcement states : The magnificent pearl neck-
lace which belonged to the Dowager-Duchess of
Montrose, and which, by the Duchess’s will, was
to be sold for the benefit of charity, on Tuesday
realized £11,500.

Mr. Crawford, her second husband, was the
richest commoner in Scotland ; her third husband
was a youth of twenty-five.

Meanwhile, Father Healy attained a gradual
increase of fiesh and strength. The Bohemian
bard Lobbrowtiz, so far back as 1522; wrote a

Digitized by AjOOQle

* THE LOT FELL ON MA TTH/AS

301

Latin ode to the water of Carlsbad, which is thus
translated :

‘ Healing fount 1 flow on for ever,

Health on mankind still bestow ;

If a virgin woo thee, give her
Rosy cheeks and beauty's glow ;

If an old man, make him stronger ;

Suffering mortals soothe and save ;

Happier send them home, and younger,

All who quaff thy limpid wave 1*

The poet's aspiration was verified. Father Healy
returned home a new man.

In January, 1891, Mr. Matthias Bodkin, after-
wards M.P., but at that time the acting editor of
United Ireland , refused to espouse Mr. Parnell's
side ; whereupon the latter iSurst in the door of the
editorial sanctum, attended by several companions,
who fell upon the refractory journalist, and in-
stalled as editor in his room a stanch disciple of
Parnell.

A friend announced this sensational news to
Father Healy, who, aptly quoting from the Acts
(i. 26), said, 1 “And the lot fell on Matthias !” ’

Digitized by CjOOQle

[ 302 ]

CHAPTER XYIH.

Tour in Spain — Paul Aubert — Alarming Illness of Father
Healy — The Riviera — In the Pope’s Debt — Monte Carlo
— A Papal Present — Letters from Hell — Loretto versus
Roulette — Lady Hilda Dun das — Lord Houghton — Narrow
Escape of Father Healy — The 1 Twopenny Shave * — Castle
Boro — Carlsbad — Buxton.

In January, 1892, Mr. Henry Arthur Blyth, of
Portland Place, London, who had already known
the charm of Father Healy as a travelling com-
panion, urged him to be his guest on a prolonged
Continental tour. The good priest had had a sharp
attack of influenza, and suffered from the languor
which follows that disease. He had a bright time
of it beneath the cloudless sky of Madrid, and was
the means of greatly enhancing the enjoyment of
Mr. Blyth’s travelling-party. M. Paul Aubert kept
a diary of their movements, but, although a most
accurate recorder, unfortunately made no note of
the good things which fell from the witty priest.

‘ Upon reference to my diaries/ he writes, ‘ I find

Digitized by

Google

TOUR IN SPAIN

303

that on January 80, 1892, I met in the Sud-Express
train, at St. Pierre-de- Corps, Mr. Blyth’s party,
which consisted of: James Blyth, Father Healy,
Newman Gilbey, H. J. Newman, Arthur Blyth,
Audley Blyth, and Archie Gold. We travelled
together, arriving in Madrid on the following
evening, and put up at the Hotel de Paris.

‘We spent nearly a fortnight at Jerez, when the
Anarchists were so much in evidence; indeed, it
was during our stay that the seven leading men
were sentenced to death and garrotted. During our
stay Father Healy, Mr. Gordon, and myself went
to Cadiz. Another day the whole of our party
went to St. Luca and Bonanza. On Saturday,
February 18, Father Healy and myself (neither
speaking a single word of Spanish), left Jerez to
visit Seville, where we remained until Monday, the
15th. We then went on to Grenada via La Boda.
It was during this trip that Father Healy was
taken very ill in the train.* We spent the whole
of Tuesday at Grenada, visiting the Alhambra
and the Gipsies’ quarter. On the following day
(Wednesday, the 17th) we left for Malaga, where
we were joined by the rest of James’s party in
charge of Dom Pedro Gonzalez. On Thursday,
the 18th, we left for Cordova, in order to visit the
Mosque. On Friday we undertook a somewhat

* Mr. Blyth tells me that he thought Father Healy would
have died.

Digitized by

Google

304 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

lengthened journey through Alcaza and La Encina.
arriving in Valencia the following day. We were
met there by M. Luiz Quer, who took us all round
the place. On Sunday we left for Beus. On
Tuesday Father Healy and I broke the party once
more, and went on to Barcelona, where we spent a
couple of days. On Wednesday, the 24th, we left
for the Riviera, and on Thursday, the 25th, I
parted from Father Healy, who was going to stop
with Mr. and Mrs. Bischoffsheim.’

Throughout these travels Father Healy constantly
repaired to the nearest church to say Mass. The
law on the use of vestments during the Holy Sacri-
fice is very strict, and Benedict XIV. ,(‘De Miss.’
iii. 71) declares that no cause whatever will excuse
a priest from observing it. Father Healy, on
joining his friends at breakfast, interested them
by an account of his interviews with the local
clergy, and his descriptions of the variations of
fashion in respect to the vestments which were
placed at his disposal. It needed a considerable
muscular effort one morning to get his arms into
the sacred garments.

It was no unusual circumstance to find Father
Healy leave the party, often at the pleasantest
moments, saying, by way of apology, * I am in the
Pope’s debt.’ This, of course, was to recite the
Canonical Office, which every priest is bound to do.

Father James’s correspondence with friends in

Digitized by LjOOQle

MONTE CARLO

305

Ireland, including his curate, was usually confined
to post-cards, scribbled from remote places, telling
the points to find him, so that he might be kept
au courant with matters which most people when
on their holiday would rather not hear.

Father Healy had met with some small financial
loss at this time ; and Mr. Blyth, on visiting
Monte Carlo, made up on the moment a small
family syndicate, and, without acquainting the
Padre, included his name in it. Mr. Blyth put
down £10 ; his brother, £10 ; £10 in the name of
his daughter, and £10 in the name of Father Healy.
Fortune favoured the venture, and his amazement
was great when Mr. Blyth waited upon him with
his share of the proceeds. He was at first sceptical
as to the story of the syndicate, and thought it
was some new expedient on the part of his generous
friends to heap fresh favours upon him. It is due
to Father Healy to say, on the authority of Mr.
Blyth, that he constantly declared he was well able
to pay ; and his kind host has given me an account
of the generosity of his presents. Among them
was a valuable ornament for Miss Blyth. But let
Father Healy himself describe it : ‘ The little
trinket I send has this much historical value, that
it was given by the late Pope Pius IX. to a lovely
lady. I now beg another lovely lady to accept it
from me as a little souvenir. It is not value for
£100, but it is a beautifully carved stone, and

20

Digitized by LjOOQle

3 o6 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

good judges tell me you needn’t be ashamed to
wear it.’

Mr. Bischoffsheim describes the Padre as most
careless of his health. He kindly invited him to
stay at his house in Monte Carlo, where he at last
arrived, after having travelled third-class the whole
way from Homburg without breaking the journey,
or indeed, it might be almost said, without breaking
his fast. He admitted to having had a sandwich, bat
no more.

He employed the time partly in reading his
Office, and partly in meditation, for which, in
the whirl of his ordinary life, there was little
leisure. His means were sufficient to enable him,
when not the guest of friends, whose name was
legion, to travel luxuriously, but there never lived
a man who pampered himself less. A true priest,
without cant or whine, he was very much of
opinion with Sir Matthew Hale, ‘They who pink
and pamper the body, and neglect the soul, are
like one who, having a nightingale in his hoase,
is more fond of the cage than of the bird.’

Father Healy was not long in recovering his
wonted flow of boyish spirits. He procured from
the reading-room of the gambling -house some
sheets of note-paper, surmounted by a picture of
its vestibule, and duly inscribed as coming from
that forbidden region ; and in order, as he said,
to take a rise out of some clerical friends in

Digitized by CjOOQle

LORETTO VERSUS ROULETTE

307

Ireland, he used this stationery in writing to them
on ecclesiastical business. ‘My Bishop/ he said,
‘ will start on receiving a letter from Hell.’

The back-windows of Mr. Bischoffsheim’s villa
looked out on the gaming-house, with its towers
somewhat suggestive of Notre Dame. ‘Is it not
like a cathedral V he was asked. ‘ With this
difference/ said he : ‘ that in a cathedral they pray
for a man ; here they prey on him/

He was hurrying to say Mass one morning at
the new church of Lorette, which had been built
with £15,000, the bequest of a former owner of the
gaming-table. ‘ Oii allez-vous ?’ asked Mr. Bischoffs-
heim. ‘I’m going to do what you couldn’t do/
replied Healy ; ‘ I’m hurrying to say Mass at the
church Notre Dame de Loretto.’ ‘ Be Roulette
you mean,’ was the witty rejoinder. Healy and
his friend might have felt with Archbishop McGee
that the bequest was intended as an insurance
against fire.

With a keen eye for the foibles of his fellow-men,
and a kindly sympathy for their follies, Healy
continued to make many a quaint comment. Of a
high and learned personage who had taken a young
wife, he said, ‘ She will kill that old man, dragging
him about to balls.’

‘Oh, that would be killing the goose that laid
the golden eggs.’ ‘ What ! you don’t call that
learned personage a goose ?’

Digitized by LjOOQle

30 8 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

Like St. Paul, he was all things to all men, and
to all women, for the matter of that. He knew
‘ legions of angels’; and whenever one with human
instincts decided to wed, then came his present of a
Pandora’s box in embossed silver, a card-case, or a
case of spoons — the most appropriate of all. This
social duty was, in itself, no light tax upon his
income.

Addressing the father of several young ladies,
one of whom had just been married, he said : * What
a pleasure it will be to you to see Olive again after
her trip ! and tell the girls not to keep me waiting
too long for the next marriage.’

At the marriage of Lady Hilda Dundas to Lord
Southampton, during the Yiceroyalty of Lord
Zetland, no guest was more full of fun. Purdon
Coote, the Gentleman Usher, pointing to a particular
room, asked him to view the presents, adding that a
man who had just gone in was a detective. ‘ Do
you hear the imputation he puts on me?’ said
Healy, addressing the Archbishop, Lord Plunket.

‘ I once dined in company with him,’ writes a
correspondent, * at the house of a distinguished
Judge, where the guests were, almost without
exception, members of the Irish official class. The
conversation turned upon soliciting favours from
the ruling powers, and Father Healy, who had been
on friendly terms with every Lord-Lieutenant and
Chief Secretary for the past thirty years, was

Digitized by LjOOQle

LORD HOUGHTON

309

asked whether he had been frequently impor-
tuned by friends to use his influence on their
behalf. He then told the following story : “A
man came to me with a dozen fresh eggs. ‘A
little present for your riverence.’ I saw that there
was something lurking behind the eggs, and I said,
‘ I don’t want the eggs, but now tell me, my good
man, what do you want ?’ ‘ Well,’ said he, ‘ I was

thinking that maybe your riverence would be
plazed to get me a little bit of a place down there
below in the Coorts.’ ” *

He had a good deal of the tact traditionally
ascribed to the Vicar of Bray who kept in with all
Governments. ‘Politics he eschewed/ writes Mr.
Labouchere, ‘ and in a country rent by political
strife he was as popular with Nationalists as with
Unionists.’ On Lord Houghton becoming Chief
Governor of Ireland, under Mr. Gladstone, he
remarked to Father Healy (November, 1892), ‘What
a genial change in the weather! — last week so
inclement, now so mild.’ * Like Mr. Balfour’s
reign : now succeeded by a more gentle rule,’ was
the response. An English statesman, who had
become, a convert to Home Buie, said to him at the
time when it really seemed imminent, ‘ Well, we’re
near Home Buie now.’ Healy thought for a
moment, and then added, * It will be after Tuesday !’

The genial weather noticed by Lord Houghton
continued, and a trip to the Dargle and to Powers-

Digitized by LjOOQle

3io MEMORIES OF FA THER JAMES HEALY

court Waterfall was planned for the Viceroy's
enjoyment. Father Healy at once started to assist,
as a local pastor, in doing the honours. With this
object he was speeding, on a hackney car, intently
engaged in reading his Office, and had possibly
repeated the words ‘ In the midst of life we are in
death,’ when suddenly this text became well-nigh
realized. The Daily Express of November 4, 1892,
thus graphically reports an incident which journal-
ists of a previous generation would have said * had
been nearly attended with fatal consequences * :
‘Yesterday his Excellency and three of his children
went down to Bray by train, and drove in one of
the state carriages from the railway-station to visit
Lord Powerscourt. The Rev. James Healy, P.P.
of Little Bray, who purposed accompanying the
Lord-Lieutenant to Powerscourt, followed the Vice-
regal carriage on a hackney car; but on arriving
at the Big Tree cross-roads, near the Dargle, he
directed the driver of the car to drive up the old
Dargle road, the Viceregal carriage having gone
the low road. The car had not proceeded far up
the hill, when a horse, yoked to a load of bricks,
was seen galloping down the hill at a furious pace
without a driver, and before the driver of the car
on which the reverend gentleman was seated could
turn his car off the road, the runaway horse dashed
into it, throwing the Rev. Mr. Healy and the driver
onto the road, and completely smashing the car.

Digitized by LjOOQle

A 1 TWOPENNY SHA VE'

3 “

The Eev. Mr. Healy escaped with a few scratches
on the face and hands, but the driver received
some injuries to his hip and shoulder. The horse
that was yoked to the car was very much injured,
a piece of skin and flesh a foot square being torn
from its stomach. A man who was breaking stones
on the roadside caught the runaway horse before
he could free himself from the broken car in which
he was entangled.’

Bishop Donnelly, then Pastor of Rathgar, was
naturally dismayed on reading the newspaper
account, and at once expressed his deep concern at
the accident, and a hope that it had not been
attended by serious injuries. 4 I had my usual
twopenny shave — nothing more,’ replied Father
Healy. Dr. Donnelly was well aware that for years
the Padre had been in the habit, on his arrival by
train in Dublin, of frequenting a barber’s shop,
and getting himself shaved for twopence. He
added, in order to allay still more the Bishop’s
solicitude, that the day of his accident he had a
dinner-party, and never felt more at ease.

This was not the barber of whose trembling hand
Father Healy had a story. 4 There, now you have
cut me ! — Ah, whisky, whisky !’ 4 Yes, yer reverence,’
replied the ready-witted operator ; 4 it do make the
skin tender, don’t it ?’

We have seen how Father Healy of late years,
when presiding as host, became impatient of long

Digitized by AjOOQle

312 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

stories if told by one with whom he was specially
intimate. Finally, he refused point-blank to allow
a bon raconteur the full length of his tether. One
evening the latter asked a guest who had not pre-
viously been at Father Healy’s, ‘ Did you ever hear
how Casey tricked Dr. Hutton out of his guinea ?’
‘No; nor he shan’t hear it now/ exclaimed Healy,
adding sotto voce to a friend, * I have timed it by
my watch, and it takes twenty-five minutes.’ He
continued in the efforts, made at an earlier date, to
make conversation, not a despotic monarchy, but
of republican equality.

One of the later parish priests of Bray soon after
his appointment was somewhat embarrassed to
receive a visit from a lady who bitterly complained
of a fancied slight on the part of one of his curates.
He tried to make peace, but his visitor was not so
easily calmed. Just at that moment Father Healy
chanced to drop in, and the puzzled pastor asked
him to help in adjusting the matter. Addressing
the visitor, Father Healy said : ‘ I have been in
Bray for over thirty years, ma’am. I never had a
difference with one of its people. “ Bekays why ?”
— I was born in Francis Street; and, like most
natives of that place, my manners were early looked
after by those responsible for my training. No
one from Francis Street would be capable of rude-
ness; and I am sure, ma’am, you will make due
allowance for those who never possessed Franciscan

Digitized by CjOOQle

THE INFLUENCE OF FRANCIS STREET 313

advantages.’ The visitor, quite satisfied, withdrew,
after which the parish priest asked Healy why on
earth he had introduced 1 Francis Street.’ ‘ I
recognized her,’ he replied, ‘ as being a former
resident in Francis Street, where I am aware she
was very successful in business.’

1 Oh, what handsome children !* he exclaimed,

on meeting Mrs. O’E with her bairns at the

railway-station. ‘ They are good children,’ she
replied, ‘ but not handsome.* * Don’t give the lie
to your clargy,’ said Healy, hurrying away. The
lady got a panic lest some carmen who were
present would regard this as a serious utterance,
but Irish jarveys have too much natural humour to
make such mistakes. He who takes the child by
the hand takes the mother by the hand. Meeting
another matron with a charming child, he said,
* But that I’m in the street, I’d give her a kiss.*

The activity of his life was remarkable. An
occasional glimpse of it is to be caught when
opening old newspapers. Thus, a paragraph in
the Irish Times during August, 1892, mentions:
1 Lord Wolseley, who was this week the guest of
Lord and Lady Carew at Castle Boro, visited
Wexford on Wednesday. The Commander- in -
Chief was accompanied by his hostess, Lord
Edward Cecil, Emily Lady Carew, Mrs. Leth-
bridge, the Very Eev. Canon Blacker (Woodbrook),
Eev. Father Healy (Bray), Miss Gibson (Lord

Digitized by CjOOQle

3 i4 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Ashbourne's daughter), Mr. Howarth, etc. After
partaking of lunch, the party proceeded through
the town on foot, and visited several places of
interest, amongst which was the bedchamber that
was occupied by Cromwell during his stay in
Wexford in October, 1649. In the afternoon the
party drove to Johnstown Castle (the residence of
Grogan Morgan, who was hanged in *98), and were
received by Lord Maurice and Lady Fitzgerald.
They returned to Wexford and took their departure
for Enniscorthy en route to Castle Boro.’ On such
trips Healy was the life and soul of the party.

The death, near Swords, of Mr. Kettle was
announced by the morning papers. A gentleman
of this name had made himself prominent as an
orator of the Land League. * Kettle is dead, and
we’ll be no longer in hot water,’ somebody remarked
at breakfast. ‘ Dead ! not a bit of it,’ replied
Healy ; ‘ it’s the Kettle without the spout that’s
gone.’ It was a brother of the orator who died.

Some of the festive compliments he had been
receiving were promptly returned at Little Bray.
But even those of whom he had previously known
little were well aware that

‘ Hospitality,

No formality,

All reality,

There they’d ever see.’

His one servant continued to act as cook as well as

Digitized by LjOOQle

NO ADVANCEMENT

315

parlourmaid, and it was quite understood that each
man should shift for himself and assist his neigh-
bours. Many hands make light work, and the
hilarity of the company was all the brighter from
the piquant novelty of their occupation.

Father Healy had no ambition for Church
dignities; but some friends of his were always
impatient to see him advanced, and missed no
opportunity to din into his ear that he had been
unfairly dealt with. By constant ear- wigging of
this sort, they at last succeeded in persuading him
that his name ought not to be excluded from every
new batch of Canons.

One day the Archbishop and several Canons
were dining with him. * I wish there were no
Canons in the diocese, for then I’d be as grand as
any of you,’ he said. This was his first hint that
the dignity would be acceptable. The canonry,
however, did not come, and by degrees he became
more pointed ; this was observed on a subsequent
occasion, in the year 1898, when his Grace and a
number of priests were with him at Little Bray.
A guest who missed Father Healy’s faithful curate
asked where he was.

‘ He’s at Elswick.’

‘ Where is that ?’ someone asked.

‘It’s a place where cannons are made.**

* The great shipbuilding and gun manufactory of Lord
Armstrong is at Elswick.

Digitized by

Google

3i6 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

‘ He’d be a long time at Bray before he’d see a
Canon made/ came in reply quick as the ordnance
flash.

A Society journal gave prominence at this time
to the following anecdote : * At Corless’s Restaurant
the other day Father Healy’s attention was drawn
by the proprietor to the fact that Miss Corless had
gained some great distinctions at the Milan Con-
servatoire of Music. “ And what are you going to
do with your daughter after all this?” asked the
priest. “ Oh, I shall hope to see her on the
operatic stage soon,” replied Mr. Corless, who is
the owner of the most extensive oyster-beds on the
Irish coast. “You’ll want to turn her into an
oyster Patti, then,” said Father Healy without a
moment’s hesitation.’

Father Healy, having been shown this paragraph,
did not admit the paternity of it. He said that he
had never been at Corless’s Restaurant in his life.
He was not the man to address such a joke to the
father of the lady ; but if the subject were started,
he might have said something of the sort in their
absence.

His movements during his holiday are indicated
by a line penned at Buxton on Tuesday, August 22,
1898 : ‘ Here I am just come from Carlsbad.’
He had accompanied to Buxton his kind friends
Mr. and Mrs. Bischoffsheim. His luggage, they
say, might be put into a despatch-box. He always

Digitized by LjOOQle

MASS AT BUXTON

317

carried about him a license to say Mass, and at
Buxton his first inquiry was for the Roman Catholic
church. On looking into his valise, he was dis-
concerted to find that he had failed to bring a
clerical collar suited to the requirements of the
place ; one of paper, he said, would do in default
of better, and Mrs. Bischoffsheim would have
kindly made one if she had had a pattern. The
town was vainly searched for a collar. At last he
decided upon calling on the local priest, who, after
some delay, satisfied his requirement.

Digitized by LjOOQle

[ 318 ]

CHAPTER XIX.

The Expected Canonry — Promotion to the Parish of Bally-
brack and Killiney — Shanganagh — Lord Powersconrt’s
Memorandum — Rostrevor, the Irish Mentone — Cardinal
Logue — Cahermee Horse-fair.

Canons of the Diocese of Dublin wear a peculiar
stock, in which ornamental colour predominates.
I heard the late Canon Pope say that this stock
was first worn by the Rev. John Laphen, D.D., and
was nicknamed the * Laphen-stock.’

In August, 1898, there was a grand Church
function at Kingstown, followed by a hospitable
entertainment given by its Pastor. Healy was in a
very chaffing mood among his brother priests —
complimented one on having been recently called
to the Chapter, and, addressing another Pastor not
so favoured, who possessed a house-organ of such
neat workmanship that it was said a great hierarch
once called to see it, exclaimed : ‘ Present that
organ of yours as an offering, and you’ll soon be as
red about the gills as any of them.’

If the canonry was deferred, an acceptable pro-

Digitized by CjOOQle

APPOINTMENT TO BALLYBRACK

319

motion came by his appointment as parish priest
of Ballybrack and Killiney, where troops of attached
friends lived. For generations this place had been
much favoured by the ‘ upper ten.’ ‘ He has only
sent me there because I won't last long/ said Father
Healy cheerfully, when congratulated on his ap-
pointment ; ‘ but I’m delighted to be there. I have
to keep saying : 0 Ballybrack, my boy, you’re only
mortal ; don’t be proud !” ’

The allusion to his diocesan was, of course, one
of the jokes which nobody took seriously. It may
be observed parenthetically that when Father Healy
neared his end, and asked as a favour that a fast
friend of his should be appointed his successor, the
request was acted upon by Dr. Walsh three days
after Father Healy’s death.

Father Healy was charmed by his change to
Ballybrack. His friend, MacCarthy, had written
lines in praise of the place :

4 How pleased, how delighted, the rapt eye reposes
On the picture of beauty this prospect discloses,

From that margin of silver, whereon the blue water
Doth glance like the eyes of the ocean foam’s daughter !

To where, with the red clouds of morning combining,

The tall 44 Golden Spears ” * o’er the mountains are shining ,
With the hue of their heather, as sunlight advances,

Like purple flags furled round the staffs of the lances !

* Golden Spears , it may be remarked, is the literal transla-
tion of an old Irish name applied to the Sugar-loaf chain of
mountains.

Digitized by LjOOQle

320 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Sweetest of vales is the vale of Shanganagh I
Greenest of vales is the vale of Shanganagh !

No lands far away, by the calm Susquehannah,

So tranquil and fair as the vale of Shanganagh !’

And, again :

4 When like a brave man, in fenceless resistance,

I have fought the good fight on the field of existence,

Be my home a calm home where my old age may rally,

A home full of peace in this sweet pleasant valley !*

Ballybrack as a parish had been united to Glas-
thule, but on the death of Canon George Harold was
severed from the latter. To visitors, St. Alphonsus
and its charming priest’s house — embosomed in
bright parterres and commanding views of great
picturesque beauty — seem like a revelation of fairy-
land.

The curate at Ballybrack, who, from long resi-
dence, had become endeared to the place, seemed
a little disappointed on being obliged to vacate the
house. ‘ I advise you to go to the Archbishop,’
said Father Healy — a pause ; * his Grace has got
a fund for the relief of evicted tenants.’ As he said
this he raised an eyelash in the direction of Land
League Lodge, the adjoining residence of Michael
Davitt.

The Padre was much amused at a rumour, or a
joke, or whatever it was, that the Corporation had
thought of altering the statue of Nelson in Sackville
Street into one of the popular leader Davitt. ‘ The

Digitized by LjOOQle

LORD POWERSCOURT

321

arm being deficient, the job was the less difficult,
and would have afforded a conspicuous instance of
high art.’

The curate at Ballybrack, who left the house on
Healy’s arrival, casting 4 a lingering look behind, 1
was promptly consoled by his appointment as parish
priest of Wicklow. The owner of Ardmore, Killiney,
gave a dinner to this priest on his promotion, and
Father Healy, while drinking his health as pro-
posed by the host, congratulated him on the atten-
tion shown, adding that when he was leaving Little
Bray he was allowed to glide away without any
4 dinner.’

Lord Powerscourt has kindly sent me the follow-
ing memorandum of a small incident which, though
of no public interest, yet, as belonging to this
period of Father Healy’s life, claims record :

4 When Father Healy was being promoted from
Little Bray to Ballybrack, he was moving his
furniture, etc., out of his house at Little Bray, and
he had a picture in his dining-room of Tinnahinch,
representing the view of the Powerscourt mountains,
painted by Roberts. I said something to him about
the picture, and asked him whether he was going
to take it with him, and said : 44 Any time, if ever
you think of parting with that picture, kindly let
me know, and I will give you whatever you think it
is worth.” We got into the train at Bray to go to
Dublin, and talked about all sorts of subjects, and

21

Digitized by LjOOQle

322 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

when we got near Dublin he said : “ Do you know
what I gave for that picture ?” I said : “ I have not
the slightest idea.” He said : “ Well, I gave
nothing for it ; it was given to me as a present,
and if you will give me three dozen of your cham-
pagne, you shall have the picture.” I said : “ Oh,
Father Healy, but that would not be fair ; you will
drink the champagne, or your friends will drink it,
and then you will have nothing left.” “Oh!” he
said, “that does not matter; the champagne will
last my time.” So I sent him the three dozen of
champagne, and he sent me the picture.’

A very handsome bright new carpet, which
Father Healy got as a present, covered a portion of
his hall at Ballybrack, and presented a marked
contrast to one of mustard hue beside it which he
had previously provided. ‘It’s a very handsome
pattern, but it’s swearing at the other,’ a Bishop
said when visiting him. ‘ All I can say is, it never
learned to do so here.’

Shortly after his transfer from Bray to Bally-
brack, he puzzled Archbishop Lord Plunket by the
remark, made with much solemnity : ‘ You have
lost your Father.’

He was persuaded to secure, on what seemed
advantageous terms, an outside jaunting-car, lightly
built and suited to the hilly country in which his
lot was now cast. * Like everything Irish, I’ve got
the car before the horse,’ he said. The purchase

Digitized by

Google

THE DA Y-DREAM OF HIS LIFE

323

of the latter was in due time completed. It was a
Rosinante of very unprepossessing exterior. ‘ I don’t
want to die a millionaire,’ he said, * so I’ve invested
my savings in him.’

It was the day-dream of his life to be parish
priest of Bally brack and Shanganagh. The reader
will remember that Monsignore Farrell, twenty
years before, endeavoured to get him the appoint-
ment. When congratulated on his promotion,
Father Healy replied, in more thoughtful mood
than was his wont : * Pray that I may live a couple
of years to enjoy it !’

An English friend and his family, not in the
best health, visited Monte Carlo. ‘ So you’re all
mending, and most of you mended. Thank God !
Be sure to fleece the Philistines, and bring home a
cartload of louis. Plainly, you haven’t heard of my
good luck. I have got Ballybrack and Killiney as
a parish instead of Little Bray — the nicest and
most picturesque parish in the world. Tell James
and all your people, they’ll be glad to hear the news
and rejoice with me. I had a congratulatory letter
from Villa Henriette. I suppose David Plunket had
sent the good news.’

Father Healy was much en Evidence in his new
parish, especially in the precincts of his church.
All comers were cordially greeted, and he had as
pleasant a word for the child who came for Cate-
chism as for the local magnate. These courtesies

Digitized by

Google

324 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

were meant, of course, for his flock. Two fair
ladies, who lived nearer Dublin, said : ‘We hear the
views from your new house are charming, and
some day we mean to look you up.* The ecclesias-
tical spirit was shown in his laughing reply : ‘ You
know, I don’t much encourage the visits of ladies.’

‘ I hope I’ll be in full splendour on your arrival
in Dublin,’ a burly Saxon is told. ‘Anyhow, I’m
making the necessary preparations, and Maurice
Brooks is ordered to provide the kitchen-range.
My health, thank God, is excellent — hardly the
recollection of my illness remaining.’ This roseate
glow was not destined to last. A friend is told
(October 81, 1898) : ‘ To-day I’m better, but I was
in bed on Saturday and Sunday, and I cannot tell
when or how it’s going to end.’ But when Christ-
mas came matters looked brighter : ‘ You’ll be glad
to know that I am much better, and going to be
better still.’

His generous and genial friend, Lord Iveagh, also
tendered felicitations. ‘ Among other advantages,’
Healy replied, ‘its income, although somewhat
short of yours, is sufficient for my wants, and almost
enough for my desires.’ And on a subsequent
occasion he said : ‘Every luxury has its drawback.
We have both more means than it is possible for us
to spend.’ The humour of the reply lay in the
fact that Lord Iveagh was said to be worth
£4,000,000.

Digitized by CjOOQle

ROST REV OR

325

Men did not need a stethoscope to read through
the lines of his pleasant sentences on moving to
Bally brack that mortal disease was at work within.
Constant change was ordered by his doctor, and this
serves to account for the activity of his movements.

A convalescent English friend is told : * I, too,
have at last made tracks. To-morrow I go to
Rostrevor — our Irish Mentone and he asks him
to come there as his guest.

Writing of Carlingford and Rostrevor, Thackeray
says : ‘ Were such a bay lying upon English shores,
it would be a world's wonder ; or if on the Mediter-
ranean or Baltic, English travellers would flock to
it in hundreds.' Attracted by these words, and
further influenced by the report of his friend, Dr.
Nedley — * A lovely region, bad for doctors ; an
excellent cook, try her omelettes' — Father James
was soon embraced by ‘ the Queen of the East
Coast.’

He tells two English visitors that he was think-
ing of running up to Dublin to have a look at
them ; ‘ but I’m sure it’s wiser, and that you’d both
like it better, that I’d stay here and perfect my
cure. Please God, next time you come I’ll be
younger, stronger, and handsomer than ever, and
therefore fit to receive you.’

A lady journalist was at Rostrevor, and had a
good deal of talk with Cardinal Logue, who stayed
at the same hotel. They were joined some days

Digitized by LjOOQle

326 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

later by Father Healy, and I merely record so
trifling a remark because of the quaint way he
expressed it : ‘ The Cardinal was quite turned over
when he heard who you were.’ This lady tells me
that a peer in England, who kept a specially
pleasant house, wrote to Father Healy asking him
on a visit. Miss Bryce, a very pretty girl, said :
* Father Healy, I wish you’d take me in your
pocket.’ * It is not in my pocket, but as a feather
in my cap, you should come.’

On his return from Rostrevor, a lady got into the
train at Drogheda whose features struck him as so
like those of a dear friend of his that he had little
doubt she must be the niece of that friend. He
did not like to ask her the question, but adopted
the expedient of introducing in audible converse
with his vis-a-vis an allusion to the suspected uncle,
adding that if he would only give up drink he would
be the best fellow in the world. Her piqued
manner at once revealed the relationship. Father
Healy apologized, explained the truth, and both
talked pleasantly during the remainder of the
journey to Dublin. The humour of the thing lay
in the fact that the uncle to whom he referred was
a man of model habits.

An English friend, who had been often at his
house in Bray, had arranged to celebrate the Derby
by a dinner in London, and Father Healy agreeably
surprised him by saying he would join it.

Digitized by

Google

CAHERMEE HORSE-FAIR

327

‘You needn’t mind having bells rung, or trumpets
blown, or fireworks; but everything else is expected,
and no doubt will come as I’ll come.*

The Padre was now in great form, and, as he
said, ‘not a bit like the careworn old fogey you
used to know.’

He had a good time in London. On June 17,
1894, he writes : ‘ Safe and sound, at home again
in the quietness of Ballybrack, far from the mad-
ding crowd.’

‘ Every day,’ writes a lady, ‘ dinner was served
in his house, whether he came home or not, and a
standing order enjoined that in the latter case it
should go to the poor; as a rule, he dined out.
If not regularly secured by a previous invitation,
he would bring sunshine at twilight, by dropping
in on old friends.’

The next glimpse caught of Father Healy is not
* On July the twelfth in Oldbridge Town,’*

but on July the twelfth at Cahermee horse-fair. This
is a great attraction to society in the South of
Ireland. Equipages from all parts throng to the
spot, furnished with contingents for picnic and pro-
menade. It was just a sight which the late Duchess
of Montrose would have enjoyed. Four thousand
horses are on view and on sale, supervised by

* The first line of the well-known ballad, 4 The Boyne
Water.’

Digitized by LjOOQle

328 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

men with widely-separated legs and tightly-fitting
small - clothes. There was Father Healy, sure
enough, standing in one of the most disUngui
groups, and interesting the coterie with some of
his quaint memories. The Padre turned up in
many unlooked-for places ; but in this instance he
had been invited to help in brightening Lord
Wolseley’s visit to Cahermee. His mission to the
end seemed largely devoted to making the lives of
others happy.

In August, 1894, symptoms of ill-health again
appeared, and Father Healy was urged to try once
more Carlsbad, which gave him new life five years
before, and proved of benefit the previous year.
One of his flock, Sir Richard Martin, sought to be
allowed to defray the expenses of the trip, but
Father Healy would not hear of it.

Meanwhile he accepted the invitation of his
friend, Lord Iveagh, to join him in a prolonged
yachting expedition. Amongst other pleasant in-
cidents of this time was their presence at the Cowes
Regatta, where the name of Father James Healy
was put down as an honorary member of its
Yacht Club. Here he witnessed some exciting
races between the great representative cutter yachts
of Great Britain and America — the Britannia ,
belonging to the Prince of Wales, and the Vigilant
of Mr. Gould. One day the Duke of St. Albans
said : * Our Commodore wishes to be introduced

Digitized by CjOOQle

THE PRINCE OF WALES

329

to you.’ ‘Well, trot him out,’ was the brusque
reply of Father Healy, who did not know that the
personage in question was the Prince of Wales.
Although the Prince had been twice to Ireland,
it so happened that Father Healy, owing to more
than one contretemp8 y had not been presented to
His Royal Highness. The priest was rather dis-
concerted when, in the present instance, he found
out his mistake, and at once hurried to pay his
respects to the Commodore. The Prince said that
his name had long been familiar to him, and
proffered the courtesies inseparable from his genial
nature ; but Father Healy replied that he was
merely en route to Carlsbad for his health, and
already had been put under a despotic regimen.

4 I got so ill at the Isle of Wight/ he told Mrs.
Bischoffsheim, who richly enjoyed his occasional
use of hyperbole, 4 that I expressed a wish to see a
priest. After much delay one was found — a man
of generous rotundity and long black hair. I took
so long to make my confession that, when it was
done, he seemed a spare man and his hair was
white/

Walking exercise in the open air is an essential
part of the regimen at Carlsbad. One of its visitors,
thus occupied, was familiarly hailed by a voice
behind. On looking back, a muffled figure was
seen, the collar of the coat buttoned up so high
about his ears that one could barely recognize the

Digitized by LjOOQle

330 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

sheltered face. When everyone else had umbrellas
to ward off the sun, this shivering figure presented
a touching contrast. Addressing the new-comer by
his Christian name, Father Healy said :

* I am very ill.’

‘ Where are you staying ?’

‘ At the Hotel Belvedere, on these great heights
above, which it distresses me to try to reach.*

€ You could not do better than come to my hotel,
the Golden Shield, which is on the level.’

‘ I should like to do so ; but, alas ! my traps are
above, and possession is nine points of the law.’

Both sauntered to the Golden Shield. There was
only one small room, but the Padre eagerly said
he would love to have it. His friend at once
hurried to the more inaccessible hostelry, explain-
ing in mingled German and English that the Padre,
being ill, was unfit for the ascent, and having
obtained his luggage, the envoy bore it back in
triumph.

Father Healy was delighted at the change.

* After yachting with Lord Iveagh, and taking
part in the Cowes Regatta,’ the friend was told,
* I started for Bergen, but became so ill that with
great difficulty I got on to Carlsbad.’

He seemed wholly unable to eat ; went to bed at
half-past three p.m., and rose at ten next day. He
flattered the old friend by a request to tuck him in
the last thing, and say 1 Good-morning.’ He had

Digitized by LjOOQle

AN AL-FRESCO BREAKFAST

33i

been sleeping so badly that forty winks, he said,
would prove a boon. A faithful vigil was kept.
* Don’t go yet,’ he might be heard to whisper, and
his friend would linger until the lids that covered
the Padre’s expressive eyes seemed sealed at last.

A native doctor prescribed. By degrees the
patient got better, and after a few mornings his
friend said : ‘ Do make an effort to join me at an
alrfresco breakfast. You will be amused to see
hundreds similarly engaged by the banks of the
Tepl.’

Breakfast was laid under one of the trees which
dotted the garden in front of their hotel. Though
seemingly shaded, yet, wherever a stray ray of
sun percolated through the branches, it all but
scorched like a burning-glass.

Father Healy would eat nothing. The friend,
aware of an old penchant on his part, and hoping
to tempt his appetite, said : ‘ Bacon can not be
cured here as it is now in Ireland — the summers
are too hot, and the winters too cold ; but they pre-
pare a sort which is extremely like what used to be
got at your father’s house.’

The Padre remarked that imitation was the
sincerest flattery, and consented to act upon the
happy thought. A flitch was found, and a rasher
cut, which somehow soon disappeared. The friend,
quoting from Murray’s ‘ Guide,’ said that the
Sprudel, the hottest spring in the world, boils eggs

Digitized by AjOOQle

332 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

hard. This, Father Healy remarked, almost
equalled the boast of Brother Syrenus Kelly, that
he had roasted his Easter eggs in the crater of
Vesuvius, and he saw no reason why, with the
Sprudel at hand, they could not brew their own tea
at Carlsbad. Father Healy’s next sign of con-
valescence was to put on a fancy cap, which had
been given to him as a honorary member of the
Cowes Yacht Club.

A bigot having expressed surprise that he should
enjoy the society of some friends at Carlsbad whose
religious views were, not orthodox, he replied,
4 When they accord to me the right to differ, why
should I cavil at theirs ?’

A hankering for home news was the next sign
of convalescence. He rejoiced to hear of the
success of Bishop Donnelly’s fancy fair for the
enlargement of his church at Bray.

4 Life at Carlsbad,’ writes Mr. Labouchere, 4 is
dull, wearisome, and watery. Healy’s presence
there was an inestimable boon. One day a party
was made up to visit some place in the neighbour-
hood, and of that party he was the life and soul.
He was good enough to invite me to visit him in
Ireland, and I looked forward to that visit with
longing. He had been ill, but he seemed to have
got over it, and I little thought that in a few short
weeks he would be in his grave.’

He passed through London on his way home,

Digitized by LjOOQle

A PRESENTIMENT OF DEATH

333

called at Lord Iveagh’s house in Grosvenor Place,
and announced the pleasant fact that ‘ Bichard
was himself again.’ Two memorable days were
passed at this time with the Marquis and Mar-
chioness of Salisbury at Hatfield.

Accepting an invitation from the Duke and
Duchess of St. Albans in September, he met at
their house a nice woman, Mrs. Austin Lee, whose
husband was in the Diplomatic Service. The
childlike innocence of the man and the amiable
enjoyment of his hostess were shown by a far-
fetched joke.

‘I hope you like Mrs. Lee,’ the Duchess said
during a brief absence of the lady.

‘ Why shouldn’t I ? Is she not a She-Lee and I a
H e-Lee V

Beaction would come. Father Healy had long
been in the habit of dining with Mr. James Macan
to celebrate the anniversary of his marriage to Miss
O’Hagan. The last occasion was October 15, 1894.
With feet on the fender and eyes fixed on the red
caverns of the glowing fire, he seemed thoughtful
and depressed that night. At last he expressed
the presentiment that ere another year came round
one of the guests would be no more.

The Bev. Daniel H , a popular curate, had

been on the Mission for a longer period than
usually qualifies for promotion. At the conclusion
of a largely attended clerical dinner, hot water was

Digitized by

Google

334 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

produced for the use of those who cared to wash
down frugal fare with the ‘ wine of the country.’
The Vicar-General, a strict total abstainer, finding
that the jug had been passed on to where he sat, at
once pushed it beyond him with an energy that
sent it two or three seats higher up, one of which
supported the genial person of Father Dan. ‘Ah,
don’t pass over Dan !’ exclaimed Father Healy,
and every man present saw the felicity of his
remark.

A parish having become vacant by death soon
after, rumour said that this priest would get it ; but
the Archbishop and the vicariate arranged it other-
wise. His Grace’s secretary, having had occasion
to write to Healy on other business, was answered
on a post-card, saying he had been ill, and that
Dan was near having another chance. These
repeated hints worked, and within a week Father
Dan received his appointment as Pastor of Lusk,
so rich in archaeological and historic interest.

Father Healy’s dress on the coldest days was the
same single, skimpy coat that had done duty in
warmer weather. It is only surprising that he so
long escaped the fatal chill which would have been
inevitable to a man of less active habits. One of
his last appearances in public was at the funeral of
William Henry Cogan on a cold day in October, his
tightly-buttoned thin coat showing that he felt the
nipping air. And yet a week or two before his

Digitized by LjOOQle

HIS LAST OFFICIAL ACT

335

death he was seen, on a sharp day, standing — of
course without an overcoat — at a bookstall. He is
said to have replied to a lady, who said, ‘ Father
Healy, you never wear a greatcoat,’ 1 No ma’am, I
never was’ — but I do not feel quite sure that the
joke has been correctly fathered. His last official
act was to preside at the obsequies and read the
Burial Service by the grave of his parishioner,
Miss O’Gorman, sister of the witty Major, who,
through the indulgence of Mr. Brand, when
Speaker, had made Parliament pleasant.

To the end he continued * on hospitable thoughts
intent,’ and true to his mission of bringing to-
gether public men of divergent politics. He had
now, in his new home, a much larger dining-room
than at Little Bray. Ten days before his death
he entertained Lord Powerscourt, the Right Hon.
John Morley, the Right Hon. Lord Justice Fitz-
gibbon, his Grace Archbishop Walsh, Chief Baron
Palles, and several priests. Mr. Morley had
become his parishioner by renting a place for the
season amid the charming scenery of Killiney, and
the Padre took him specially under his wing. The
first day that Mr. Morley dined with him was on a
Friday, when he got nothing but fish. On the
second occasion he found nought but the flesh-
pot.

An English friend, who visited Dublin four times
in the year, he asked to name the precise day of

Digitized by

Google

336 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES MEALY

his projected arrival, ‘that I may complete all neces-
sary preparations for the inevitable banquet.’

On October 9, 1894, shortly before his death, he
writes : ‘ I’m flourishing, thank God, but still have
the slightest suspicion of my sciatica. I’m under
promise to go, if I can, on November 6 to the
Iveaghs, now shooting in Norfolk. Weather here
preternatural.’ Alas ! he was in his grave long
before that date, and the capriciousness of the Irish
climate hastened his end.

He was suffering from an ordinary catarrh, when
two clerical friends, hearing of his illness, went
down to see him. This was on Tuesday. He in-
sisted on detaining them to dinner, and left his
sick-room to entertain them. This needed little
effort on his part ; he could not bear to be alone,
and ordinarily would go out on the highway in
search of some acquaintance rather than dine by
himself. On the occasion in question he was in
high spirits. Soon after ten he returned to his room,
but that night he was slightly feverish, and next
day no better.

On Wednesday, October 24, he incautiously got
up to have his bed made, and sat at the fire. He
took off his night- shirt, rummaged in a drawer for
a fresh one, and renewed his cold. Ugly symptoms
having developed themselves, Dr. Raverty, of Bray,
his ordinary attendant, called to his aid Dr. (now
Sir Thornley) Stoker. Previously the Padre suffered

Digitized by LjOOQle

‘ THE RULING SPIRIT

337

from gall-stones, but Dr. Stoker could not detect
their presence now. He suffered from pneumonia.

It was stated by a bon raconteur , and believed and
repeated by Sir George Porter, that Father Healy
on his death-bed remarked, in reply to his doctor,
who said, ‘ You cough with more difficulty this
morning,’ ‘ Strange, for I have been practising all
night.’ In point of fact, this was said by Curran
in 1817 ; but if authentic illustrations of Father
Healy’s wit are admissible in dealing with the
solemn event of his death, assuredly good examples
are not wanting.

When it is mentioned that Father Healy for
years had viewed with scepticism the alleged
virtues of medicine, it will be seen that he cannot
have proved a very tractable patient. Dr. (now
Sir Christopher) Nixon, having been called in for
consultation, addressed him in impressive words :
‘My dear Father James, you are exceedingly ill.
We know what is best for you, and I must ask you
to submit your will to us.’

‘ You might change it,’ was the witty reply.

Dr. Stoker was so much struck by this renewed
proof of his exhaustless wit — strong in death —
that he noted the reply.

‘ Are you distressed ?’ said Dr. Nixon, during the
progress of his diagnosis.

Sir Thornley Stoker describes his answer as
slowly uttered, with a gasp between every word :

22

Digitized by

Google

338 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

4 1 feel as if several people owed me money.’*

His last words to his devoted curate, Father
Burke, as he held his hand, were touching : 4 The
doctors have been here; they have passed judg-
ment, and left me no loophole for escape.’

To his sister Mary he whispered : 4 Notice to quit.’
Archbishop Walsh made a special journey to see
him. Father Healy brightened as he entered ; but
this was but one of the last flickerings of the lamp
before its light is finally extinguished.

He thanked his Grace for having at last pro-
moted Father Dan, and asked as a dying request
that his attached and erudite friend, Canon Quinn,
Pastor of St. Audoen’s, Dublin, might be appointed
his successor. A few days later the Freeman's
Journal records :

4 We are in a position to announce that after
the solemn obsequies in Glasnevin yesterday his

* The mind of a wit as death draws near seems to grow
brighter and stronger in proportion as his frame weakens.
Foote, when told that he would die by inches, said he was
thankful that he was not a tall man. Theodore Hook said
on his death-bed, ‘ There is an end to all things, even to
Upper Wimpole Street.’ Sheridan, who, like Healy, had
finely expressive eyes, said to Rogers on the bed of death,
4 Tell Lady Bessborongh that my eyes will look up to the
coffin-lid as brightly as ever.’ A friend of Healy 's in early
life, with whom he fenced in repartee, was Joe Geoghegan.
Joe, during his last illness, was asked how he felt. 4 If I
were to tell you, you wouldn’t believe me,’ was the reply.
4 How is that ?’ 4 Because I have been lying ever since I

saw you.’

Digitized by CjOOQle

AN ELEGY

339

Grace the Archbishop conferred the vacant parish
of Ballybrack upon the Very Rev. Canon Quinn,
p.p;

Canon Stavely, a prominent figure at the Pro-
testant Synod, and Rector of Ballybrack, had not
known Father Healy until his arrival there as
parish priest, some months before. He called
upon him, and was charmed by his genial wit. * I
offered prayers for him in my church just as his
soul was departing,* he writes. Frank Battersby
but voiced the feeling of many other Protestants
in lines too touching to be omitted :

‘ Toll the bell ! a soul is passing
From its mortal home of clay;

Holy prayers, our voices breathing,

Speed it on the heavenward way.

‘ Toll the bell ! the good priest dying
Leaves in memories pure and fond
Deeds of mercy never ending,

Earthly treasures far beyond.

‘ Toll the bell ! no broken-hearted
Ever sought his help in vain ;

His, the word of sacred comfort,

Bids the mourners smile again.

‘ Toll the bell ! the scene is holy ;

Calm, in sleep of death, he lies ;

Round him throng the great, the lowly,

In the solemn sacrifice.

‘ Toll the bell ! while sunbeams, bursting
Through the autumn noontide sky,

Speak in tones of heavenly glory,

“Welcome to thy home on high !” ’

Digitized by CjOOQle

340 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

When prayed for in the Roman Catholic church
at Bray on the same day, many sobs were heard
through the sacred edifice.

Father Healy died on October 28, 1894, aged
seventy. ‘ His obsequies, in his parish church at
Ballybrack,’ writes the Rev. Joseph Burke, ‘pre-
sented a spectacle of public mourning without a
precedent, perhaps, in all our history. The Arch-
bishop of Dublin, with his Cathedral Chapter, the
Most Rev. Bishop Donnelly, and countless clergy,
secular and regular (many of them from distant
dioceses), the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin,
the Venerable Archdeacon Scott, Rector of Bray,
and the Rectors of the surrounding parishes, the
Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Chief Secretary for
Ireland, representatives of the Lord-Lieutenant
and of ex- Viceroys, Peers, Judges, notabilities from
all the professions, and the leading gentry and
persons of distinction, vied with each other and
with the peasants and the poor, who had flocked
from all quarters, but especially from Little Bray,
in offering the last sad token of their undying love
to the dead priest, whose like they shall not look
upon again.’

It may perhaps be added that his funeral was
the largest and most representative ever seen in
Dublin. Owing to the largeness of the cortege,
it did not reach Prospect Cemetery until some
hours after its time. Its arrival was awaited by

Digitized by CjOOQle

FATHER MEALY' S WILL

341

Field-Marshal Lord Wolseley, the Duke of Teck,
and many others.

The week Father Healy died he had arranged to
spend in England with old friends.

It will be remembered that some joking allusion
to a 1 will ’ was made. In point of fact, he had
duly executed a will in which £100 was left to the
clerical fund for the relief of superannuated priests,
and a similar sum to his friends Canon Quinn and
Canon Keon respectively.

For years he had suffered from one of the forms
of Bright’s disease, and he died the more wil-
lingly of pneumonia from the fact that another
disease, which was already at work, must sooner
or later kill him.

‘ If those whom the gods love die young,’ quotes
Professor Mahaffy, ‘ then Healy was such. Had
he lived for a century, he would have died young —
far too young, indeed, for the many that loved
him.’

Digitized by CjOOQle

[ 342 ]

APPENDIX.

Here is the promised sample of P. V. Fitz-Patrick’s comic
Muse. The reverend dignitary was Dean Meyler, at whose
hospitable board James Healy first met Fitz- Patrick. The
denunciation of the polka and waltz was by Archbishop
Cullen.

LETTER ON ‘ SHOVEL HATS ’ AND THE ‘ FAST
DANCES.’

By Saint Vitus* (Bishop in Nubibu a).

Thro’ ‘ Minor Orders ’ some exalt ’em —
/bound into my see * per aaltum * f

Shortly after the Polka, Waltz, and similar dances had
been denounced by the Catholic Authorities, several Bishops
and others partook of a Fast Day Dinner with a revered
Dignitary of Dublin. One of their Lordships, on his departure,
left his Episcopal Hat at the Presbytery, taking away that

* Doctor Horstius states that in certain parts of Germany
persons danced in honour of Saint Vitus on his Feast Day, in
May ; and they asserted that an uncontrollable tendency to
renew the performance was felt by them on the return of the
anniversary.

f Applied to ecclesiastical promotions, without passing
through inferior degrees. — Pope Honor ins, etc.

Digitized by LjOOQle

APPENDIX

343

which belonged to the writer of the following lines. The
object of his temporary Episcopacy achieved, he hastens to
pay anew

The homage of a Layman’s Castor,

To the spruce 1 Shovel ’ of his Pastor.

Dear Dean,

’Tis droll to find the difference
So small, ’twixt things we mock and reverence,

’Twixt coifs of Cardinals and Rakes,

The holy hats and ‘ wide-awakes ’!

Altho’ the sly old proverb has it :

‘ Cucullus monachum non facit ’ — *

Yet I, and with high pride I tell it —

By a broad Hat am made a Prelate !

Its solemn slouch implies the function,

Minus , alas I the lore and unction.

Late, mortifying in your cloisters,

On turbot, sauced with rich ‘ dredge ’ oysters ;

(Fare, which if given ‘ Trash ’ Gregg, and lasting.

He’d bray his best in praise of fasting,)

Some Bishop-guest, to his disaster,

Profaned his caput with my ‘castor,’

And left me, to complete the frolic,

His grave ‘ Sombrero ’ apostolic !

That Hat, severely orthodox,

Its sacred brim, by band draw n tighter,

Curved to the most correct of cocks,

Circles my temples as a mitre !

And like chaste Hal’s ‘ rum ’ Reformation,

By a new ‘ Nag’s-Head consecration,’ f

* ‘ The cowl does not constitute the monk.’
f ‘ The first Protestant Bishops are said to have been con-
secrated at the “ Nag’s Head ” Tavern, in Cheapside, a famous,
but much disputed event.’ — Chamjmey's Vocation of Bishops.
The hearty old Canon of Oxford, Walter de Mapes, in his

Digitized by LjOOQle

344 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

Crowns me a Bishop, sleek and stately,
About as genuine as Dick

Dick’s ‘ tile ’ is Luther’s quaint quadrangle,
Mine, faithful to the ancient fangle ;

Perhaps, like most judicial prigs,

Of both, the 4 wisdom’s in the wigs.’

Now all who ply the 4 toe fantastic,’

From Boyne to Shannon, Suir to Tolka,
Hail me their Pet ecclesiastic —

I grant full fling to Waltz and Polka !

Ballrooms in light and life rejoice,

Beaux and bright beauties skim the floor,
Waltz -bands again wake into voice,

And mirth and matches thrive once more !
Whilst I, amidst smiles and plaudits hearty,
Reign Primate of the 4 Movement Party’!
Spooner may solve the question vital,

Is mine a 4 Territorial Title ’?

On points like this, by reasonings cool,

A Wise man made John Bull 4 Tom Fool.’

Lords of the Hats of margin ample,
Missioned to edify the nations,

Give sprightly dance, with my example,
Your prompt and plenary dispensations.

well-known 4 Leonine ’ Verses, desires to die in a tavern. He
at least would scarcely have objected to receive 4 Imposition
of hands ’ there. Witness his tirst verse, which I amplify in
English :

4 Mihi € 8 t projwaitum, en Taberna mori :

Vinum sit appositum morientis art
Ut dicant cum vcncrint , Angelarum chori ,

Delia sit propit iu 8 huic Pot atari /’

Be, when death calls, my earthly task, concluded in a tavern,
My lip soothed by a genial flask, drawn from its coolest cavern,
While choral angels sweetly troll, as burden to their psalter,

4 Propitious Heaven, accept the soul of jovial Canon Walter !*

Digitized by LjOOQle

APPENDIX

345

Athens’ grand Sage so loved a skip, he
Romped thro’ a reel e’en with Xantippe.*

His soul with holy joy entranced,

Before the Ark King David danced.

Thence Prelate comes, which pedants carry
From Prcesul , — quasi prce sal tare ! f
Dapper Divines are found to lead off,

Whether the ‘ Set ’ were large or small,

In all the earliest 4 Hops ’ we read of,

And light-built Bishops finished the ball,

Footing it gaily to organs and lutes,

Thro’ a rattling dance like 4 Priest in his Boots !’ %

Their steps timed to a joyous psalm,

Brisk Girls linked with mercurial Fellows,

Long tripped in airy chain es des dames
Around the Shrine of Saint Marcellus.’§

Kind Prelate, Paul, bid thy sweet 4 Peris ’

Waltz free — 4 et tu Marcellus eris I’

* 4 Socrates learnt to dance from Aspasia at an advanced
age : Why then should not I join in one ?’ — Dr. Johnson.

Matchless in reasoning, grace, fantasia,

That wench of wondrous gifts, Aspasia,

Taught Pericles the power of glances,

And Socrates the Greek 4 Fast Dances.’

f Scaliger says that the first Bishops were called P&esules,
because they led off the dances on great Festivals.

P&re Le Menestrier, so late as 1682, saw the Canons dance
at Whitsuntide . — Traitd de Ballets.

4 Only think, thought I, as I dozed away,

Of a party of Churchmen dancing the hay —

Clerks, Curates, and Rectors capering all,

With a neat-legg’d Bishop to open the ball.’ — Moore.

1 The popular Irish Jig.

§ Gallini and others tell us that the people of Limoges
danced on his festivals around the tomb of Saint Marcellus,
singing:

4 Grand Marcel , priez pour nous ,

Et nous danserons pour vous.'

Digitized by

Google

346 MEMORIES OF FATHER JAMES HEALY

’Gainst the dear Polka ne’er enforce
The rule so fettering and commanding,
But blotting from your 4 Moral Course ’
That * Lock on Human Understanding
Let, like the gay old Croziered Quorum,
Nymphs dance — 4 pebmissu superiorum.’

La philosophic est quelque chose ; mais la musique, et la
danse, c’est-lA tout ce qu’il faut.

Sans la musique, un Etat ne peut subsister.

Sans la danse, un homme ne sauroit rien faire.

Lorsqu’un homme a corumis un manquement dans sa con-
duce, soit aux affaires de sa famille, ou au gouvernement d’un
Etat, ne dit-on pas toujours, Un tel a fait un mauvais pas dans
une telle affaire ?

Et faire un mauvais pas, peut-il proceder d’autre chose
que de ne savoir pas danser ?

Moliere. — Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

In ‘ Plain and Easie Rules for Dancing,’ published in 1651,
the author exclaims with energy , 4 Who hath not heard of the
Gentlemen of the Innes of Court, whose sweet and airy activity
makes them of our Corinnas and Amandas the especially
admired and beloved?’ Their successors of the long robe
command in these days the same enviable preference. Sen-
sible, too, of the value of court smiles and favours, they hope-
fully recollect that

The graceful play of agile heels.

Gained Hatton— from Queen Bess — 4 the Seals
And Marie Antoinette was schooled
In waltz, by Dancing 4 Master ’ Goold ! f

* 4 By his unrivalled proficiency in dancing .’ — Lord Camj>-
bell's Lives of Chancellors.

f The late Master in Chancery, Mr. Goold, who, in early
life, acted under a persuasion that he was called upon to
amaze the world in every department, is understood to have
moved in the Minuet de la Cour , and the gayer dances, with
the ill-fated Queen of Louis XVI. According to the Sketches
of the Bar, ‘ he could throw’ off a Pas seul in a style of original
dexterity which, to use an Irish descriptive phrase, elicited
explosions of applause from the men and ecstatic ebullitions
of admiration from the ladies.’

Digitized by UjOOQle

PROPOSED MEMORIAL TO THE LATE
REV. JAMES HEALY, P.P.

In December, 1894, a meeting of the friends and admirers
of Father Healy was held in the Shel bourne Hotel for the
purpose of considering the best means of perpetuating his
memory. Lord Powerscourt presided, and it was urged by
Sir R. Martin and the Provost of Trinity College that the
best way to honour his memory was to establish some
benevolent institution or work for the benefit of the poor of
Little Bray, amongst whom Father Healy laboured for so
many years. It was finally proposed by the Rev. Dr.
Haughton, S.F.T.C.D., seconded by Lord Monck, that a
Cottage Hospital be established in Little Bray.

Subscriptions have already been received amounting to
£2,400, but a larger sum will be necessary before the good
work can be accomplished. This aid, it is hoped, will soon be
forthcoming.

Among the subscribers were Lord Ardilaun, £100, and Lord
Iveagh, £100, donations afterwards handsomely doubled ;
Lord Salisbury, K.G., £20 ; Lord Houghton, £20 ; H.
Bischoffsheim, Esq., £20; Lord Zetland, K.G., £10; Lord
Londonderry, K.G., £10; Lord Plunket, Archbishop of
Dublin, £10; Lord Powerscourt, K.P., £10; the Master of
the RoHs, £10; Right Hon. David Plunket, £10; H.S.H.
the Prince of Saxe Weimar, £5; Field-Marshal Lord
Wolseley, £5 ; Most Rev. Dr. Lynch, Bishop of Kildare, £5 ;
Most Rev. Bishop Donnelly, £5 ; and Lady Constance Leslie,
Marchioness of Drogheda, Earl of Belmore, Right Hon. J.
T. Ball, Very Rev. Archdeacon Scott, etc.

BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.

G. C. t 1- Co.

Digitized by LjOOQle

Digitized by

Digitized by LjOOQle

Digitized by